Taking Lives (2004)

Sometimes you watch a movie and you're pleasantly surprised, and sometimes not. Based on the reviews for this one, I realized I was probably going to be disappointed watching this one. Yes, it has Ethan Hawke, Angelina Jolie, and Kiefer Sutherland, but that doesn't mean that it is guaranteed to be a good movie.

But you watch the opening 5 minutes, and you think, "Well, I guess anything can happen in this one," So you're ready for anything to happen. What ends up happening is FBI agent Illeana (Jolie) falls for Costa (Hawke). He's not necessarily a suspect, and the case seems closed when she does let herself drop her guard, but even so. Her lack of judgement is disappointing, and she ends up losing her job because of it. I found it hard to believe that a woman like Jolie would fall for a guy like Hawke, but maybe that's just me.

And yet, was Illeana playing to long game? Was this all part of her plan? Did she seduce him in order to capture him? No. I think it would be silly to suggest that the plot works us to that degree. At the same time, we end up watching a pregnant Illeana use herself as bait. Costa will come to her -- either to prevent her from having his babies, or to convince her to reconcile with him. Illeana has lived pregnant and disgraced for almost nine months... that's a pretty dedicated effort on her part...

After slogging through the middle, I actually kind of like what they did with the ending, but the ending wasn't enough to save the movie.

And why is Kiefer Sutherland in this one? He has a small role and maybe he's cast as a decoy, but his part in the movie feels wasted.

Rating: 2/5 stars

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