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For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.

"Taking Lives": Angelina Jolie Stars as FBI Profiler on Trail of Serial Killer

Kam Williams

Montreal has a serial killer still on the loose after 19 years of murderous mayhem, so they finally decide to turn to the FBI for some much-needed assistance. Help arrives in the person of Special Agent Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie), a crack profiler who relies on some rather unorthodox methods to catch her man. Fueled by both her intuition and a macabre obsession with the workings of the demented mind, Agent Scott is one who throws herself into her work passionately.

Before she even bothers to meet her hosts, she visits the latest crime scene to lie in the shallow grave where the latest victim was found. And she soon discerns that this sicko's m.o. is to prey on loners and to assume their identities. He not only uses their credit cards, but moves into their homes for weeks or months until he can find another target.

This is the intriguing point of departure of Taking Lives, which starts out as a taut psychological thriller. Besides Academy Award-winner Jolie (Girl, Interrupted), the picture features a couple of Oscar-nominees in Ethan Hawke (Training Day) and Gena Rowlands (Gloria). The supporting cast includes such capable character actors as Kiefer Sutherland, Tcheky Karyo, and Olivier Martinez.

Sadly this considerable collection of talent is wasted in a production which would rather scare its audience with gore than reel it in via a gripping whodunit. The crime turns out to be easy for us to solve early on, though we have to watch the clueless Keystone cops bungle the job for a couple of hours. This includes our clairvoyant heroine who abandons her sense of professionalism by getting involved with a material witness she's supposed to be protecting.

Red herrings, bizarre twists and turns, and rabbits out of the hat never mean very much when you already know what the director is up to. Taking Lives is a movie which only keeps you on the edge of your seat by unexpectedly splattering another serving of blood and guts up on the screen.

Good (2 stars). Rated R for female frontal nudity, disturbing images, sexual situations, graphic, gruesome violence, and profanity. In English and French with subtitles.

end of review.