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Directed by
D.J. Caruso Written by
Michael Pye, Jon Bokenkamp Cast
Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands, Olivier Martinez [more]
Release Date
• USA: Mar 19, 2004
• UK: 23 Apr 2004
DVD Release Date
• R1: Aug 17, 2004
• R2: 27 Sep 2004
BoxOffice: $32.6M
Official Website:
Taking Lives Website
MPAA Rating
Rated R for strong violence including disturbing images, language and some sexuality.
Running Time
1 hour, 43 minutes
Country USA, Canada
Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Atmosphere Entertainment MM, Taking Lives Pictures Inc.
Studio Canton Company, Village Roadshow Pictures
More info on IMDb.com
Other Titles
• Taking Lives (2004)
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Taking Lives Reviews |
"Taking Lives" couldn’t bullshit itself out of a pre-school class with its obvious ploys, ludicrous plot devices, manufactured relationships, vacuous characters, inane turns and an ending that had me laughing my ass off while hurling on the guy sitting in front of me. [read review] 
-- (Arrow)
Taking Lives – it’s a title to file under the goofy film names category. It’s a pretty obvious name for a thriller about a serial killer taking the lives of his victims, but the subtext is meant to describe the killer’s desire to live the life of those he has killed… until a new and exciting life peaks his interest. The film’s title failed to excite me, but the movie that bears the name surprisingly did. [read review] 
--David Levine (FilmCritic.com)
Taking Lives could best be described as a motion picture from filmmakers far more ambitious and talented than what the script demands. From a strict screenwriting perspective, the movie is threadbare and forgettable, its only novelty coming from a surprising plot twist that arrives far too late in the game to hold much worth. [read review] 
--Dustin Putman (The Movie Insider)
"Taking Lives" is another one of those serial killer thrillers where the madman is not content with murder but must also devise an ingenious and diabolical pattern so that it can be intuited by an investigator who visits the crime scene and picks up his vibes. [read review] 
--Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
As far as thrillers go, Taking Lives exists on a level somewhere above that of the run-of-the-mill, routine film that believes unexpected (and often nonsensical) twists are the only way to hold an audience's attention. On the other hand, in large part because of its sub-par resolution, it fails to attain the plateau inhabited by superior efforts. [read review] 
--James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
This is a movie that almost makes you wonder how important the studios think a decent script is worth to a movie. The theory seems to be that star-power and slick promotion will be enough to make a mint for the studios. When will they realize that this isn't always the case... [read review] 
--Brian Gallagher (MovieWeb)
Unfortunately, Taking Lives doesn't add any brilliance to the exhausted spot-the-serial-killer psychological thriller--but as uneventful as it is, it does get props for a clever ending. ...With a great zinger at the end, Taking Lives just manages to squeak by as a passable entry in the psychological thriller arena. [read review]
--Kit Bowen (Hollywood.com)
But all that aside, it's the believability of a story as well as its added suspense that anchors the best of thrillers, and for the most part, I bought into this tale without whining about major plot holes and even enjoyed a couple of "boo" moments and its sprinkled suspense. The best way to describe this film would be as a "serviceable thriller" with a semi-interesting plotline, semi-interesting characters, a semi-predictable ending and big-ass lips. [read review] 6/10
-- (JoBlo.com)
"Taking Lives" is an elaborate riff off of David Fincher's "Seven," down to the cinematography and opening credit sequence. If you can get past the familiarity and the needlessly elongated final act, "Lives" provides a solid genre entry, assisted by goodperformances from Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, and a decent follow-up film for talented "Salton Sea" director D.J. Caruso. [read review] B
--Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)
Taking Lives is the kind of movie that has to have a twist, and it’s about as dumb as they get. And just when you’ve finished shaking your head at how stupid that twist was, there’s another one in the last ten minutes of the film that had me laughing outloud in the theater. [read review] 2/10
-- (CHUD.com)
From a technical standpoint, ''Taking Lives'' is competent and sometimes even impressive. It is cleanly edited and nicely shot -- at times as cool and rich as a York Peppermint Pattie. Beyond that, there is not much to say. [read review]
--A.O. Scott (The New York Times)
Nothing wrong with showing a gal off. This is the new empowerment, and it happens routinely enough with male stars. But in director D.J. Caruso's by-the-slumbers thriller, Jolie looks falsely cool and, frankly, boneheaded. [read review]
--Desson Thomson (Washington Post)
For all it's worth, Taking Lives is just another bottom-of-the-barrel crime drama. It is dreary and forgettable. The only redeeming quality is Jolie's 'oratorical' sex scene, but that can be viewed on video or DVD. [read review] 4/10
--'Le Apprenti' (Movie-Vault.com)
It actually does have a clever twist near the end, but it's not the main twist, which is anything but terrific. The style here is straight out of "Seven," though too timid to be equally shocking. [read review]
-- (L.A. Daily News)
"Taking Lives" has visual flair, thanks to the direction of D.J. Caruso and charismatic Quebec locations. But the story, based on a novel by Michael Pye, devolves into a typical manhunt. [read review]
--Jami Bernard (New York Daily News)
Once the film sells out Jolie's character, the visual flourishes vanish, each character loses about 20 IQ points, and a preposterous scheme is enacted to trap the killer. [read review]
--Carla Meyer (San Francisco Chronicle)
Although it wants to be another Silence of the Lambs or Seven, at the end of the day Taking Lives is just "shear" entertainment -- and there's nothing wrong with that. [read review]
--Staci Layne Wilson (Horror.com)
It’s dumb, silly, derivative, boring and just plain uninteresting. As a matter of fact this is probably the most boring serial killer movie ever made. [read review]
--Sonny Fernandez (Diabolical-Dominion.com)
'TAKING Lives" is smarter than your average serial-killer movie, thanks to unusually fleshed-out characters inhabited by a high- pedigree cast. [read review]
--Megan Lehmann (New York Post)
Slickly made, well acted but frequently laughable thriller - though still better than anything Jolie has made in the last few years. [read review] 
--Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
Angelina Jolie finally has a decent movie on her hands, and the dark, suspenseful thriller "Taking Lives" comes none too soon. [read review]
--David Germain (San Francisco Examiner)
Angelina Jolie is hot on the trail of a serial killer in this dark ... very dark ... very, very, very dark thriller. [read review]
--Charles Taylor (Salon)
Looks great, holds our attention and – despite numerous stumbles – never completely falls on its face. [read review] 72/100
--Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)
Sure, the film boasts a couple of bogeyman-style starts, but those are the cheapest of cheap tricks. [read review]
--Michael O'Sullivan (Washington Post)
First-rate production values and Angelina Jolie cannot overcome threadbare material. [read review]
--Kirk Honeycutt (Hollywod Reporter)
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