Taking Lives

Synopsis: The film starts in the early 1980s. Young Martin Asher took a bus for Canada. He meets another teen on the bus Matt Soulsby. When the bus broke they decided to rent a car and drive to Seattle. On the road the car gets a flat tire, and Matt starts changing the tire Martin comments on how he and Matt are about the same height and he quickly pushes Matt in the way of an oncoming truck causing a huge accident where Matt and the driver both die. He took Matt's guitar and left singing like Matt did. Twenty years later, an FBI profiler, Illeana Scott comes to Canada to help hunting down a serial killer Martin Asher who killed multiple men and lived by their identities. Martin's mother claims that she saw Martin in Quebec city and she tells the police that Martin is evil. The police also has an eyewitness James Costa who saw Asher kill his last victim...
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): D.J. Caruso
Production: Warner Bros.
  4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.2
Metacritic:
38
Rotten Tomatoes:
22%
R
Year:
2004
103 min
$32,634,479
Website
501 Views


Where are you going?

The 2:
1 5 to Mont Laurier

will be loading at gate number 1 0.

One ticket, please. Mont Laurier.

Do you mind? The guy in the back,

he won't stop snoring.

No. Sure.

l'm Matt.

-l'm Martin.

-Hey, Martin. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Where you headed to?

Just as far away as l can get.

Well, l'll drink to that, brother.

Cheers.

l think we got a little engine trouble

here, folks. Just sit tight.

Man! You know, the same thing

happened in St. Lawrence.

We had to sit tight for nearly eight hours.

Hell, this sucks. This totally sucks.

Three hundred and eighty-five dollars.

Cash only.

All l got is my dad's credit card.

You can't read?

Cash only.

-You have a license?

-l had one. They took it away, though.

Looks like you're driving.

See that?

Fake.

-What happened?

-Courtesy of my stepdad.

Hit me so hard l flew across the kitchen,

dented the Sheetrock.

My mom watched the whole thing.

-Why?

-Why does he do half the things he does?

F***ing psycho,

But l got him back.

What? You popped him?

Got me a tour of hell, though. Had me

in military school by the next morning.

But l don't believe in following

people's rules, man.

F*** people, f*** their rules.

That's why l jumped the wall two days ago.

Now l'm going to Seattle to play music.

Jesus Christ.

l'm so sorry, man. l'm an idiot,

l wasn't paying attention.

No. Forget about it, man.

We're lucky this piece of sh*t

had a spare. F***.

You ever changed a tire before, Martin?

Didn't think so. Cool.

Okay. What do we got here?

Oh, yeah, l'll have us back on the road

in no time, no time at all.

But this time, l'm driving. Cool?

F***er's on tight.

First one's kind of always the hardest. After

that, the rest of them come off pretty easy.

You and l are about the same height, man.

What?

Be quiet.

Officer. Officer, l need your help.

l just saw my son on the ferry.

My son is dead.

He died 1 9 years ago,

but this was my son.

He walked straight in front of me.

We had eye contact.

He recognized me.

A mother's not wrong

about things like this.

How can l explain

how dangerous he was, how...?

No, not ''was.''

ls.

My son is a very dangerous man.

-What are you doing?

-Preparing a briefing for Agent Scott.

Agent Scott?

l don't understand why he needs someone

else. We've got everything under control.

-We don't have anything, Joseph.

-Because we didn't have enough time.

-We need a couple more days, that's it.

-She here yet?

She was on the flight. They can't find her.

Grard is checking baggage claim.

-She's going to be advising, right?

-This isn't about territory, Paquette.

There hasn't been

a murder like this in years.

And the first thing you do is

bring in someone else. Come on.

l have a strange feeling about this murder.

We need help. We have nothing.

You call me as soon as she gets here.

You got to be f***ing kidding me.

-Special Agent Scott?

-Yes.

We were waiting for you at the station.

-That's a grave, you know.

-Yes, l know that.

-Agent Scott.

-Monsieur Director, hello.

l see you are already making

yourself comfortable.

Joseph Paquette and Emile Duval.

They're leading the investigation.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting me.

We didn't.

We're pretty sure the victim was killed

somewhere else, then brought here.

l think it was premeditated.

-What?

-l think it was premeditated.

l think the killer chose this site,

specifically, and dug it in advance.

l can show you-- You can tell because--

See this? The corners?

They're neat. They're symmetrical.

The proportions are precise.

They're exactly 5 foot, 1 1 inches.

-Your victim 5-1 0?

-Yes, exactly.

l think he's been watching him

for a few weeks...

...studying his habits, his routine.

And he knew he could rely

on digging the grave right here.

And how did he know the victim

would be here when he wanted?

That's a bicycle path, right?

On the photos you sent...

...the victim had these slight indentations

on his ankles.

l'm guessing that's from bicycle clips.

Also, there's a sexual element to all this.

Strangling from behind, cutting off

the hands, smashing in the face.

lt's tactile. lt's immediate.

lt's what turns him on.

And...

...he wanted you to find the body.

l mean...

...why else bury it at a construction site,

unless you want it to be dug up, right?

His eyes, we think they were removed,

or are they still in his skull?

-We don't know.

-l assume you're doing--

Skull reconstruction. Yes, of course.

-lt's being done right now.

-Okay.

Are we done here?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

Good night.

Don't worry about Paquette. He's impulsive.

He wants to rush into everything.

l don't blame him.

lt's good to see you again, llleana.

Means a lot that you're up here.

Lying in the grave.

My investigators think

you are some kind of witch.

Well, l've been called worse.

-You know that.

-l know.

Hi. l'm sorry for disturbing you.

A man was killed last night.

lt happened in a parking lot outside

a 24-hour health club around 9:00.

-Same m.o.?

-Same everything.

We found the garrotte there.

lt looks homemade.

The face was bashed

in with a loose stone.

No time to get to the hands, though.

-Why not?

-He was interrupted.

The victim's name was Clive Morin,

and that's James Costa.

He claims he saw what happened.

He headed towards my car, and l hear--

When our guys got there,

he was trying to revive the victim.

What about the blood on you?

You try to help somebody

who's bleeding to death...

-ls he checking out?

-...you get blood on you.

James McKeen Costa.

Born Nova Scotia, 1 965.

Everything looks pretty standard.

We've got blood samples

and a DNA swab on the way to the lab.

l turn, and l see...

...a man standing over somebody else...

...with...

...a rock...

...in his hand.

And then...

...he started beating

this guy's face in....

-So l shouted--

-What did you shout?

''Stop,'' you know. Something dumb

like that. l don't know. l--

And then l ran towards them.

And he looked up at me,

and he pointed a gun at me.

And l....

l don't know. l thought--

l don't know what l thought.

Then he ran away.

He's gone, and then l call the cops.

And l tried to perform CPR on the

other guy until the paramedics came.

Did you remove the garrotte?

The--? Oh, the thing around his neck?

Yeah, l kind of had to.

-Did you see where the attacker went?

-Yeah, he went far from me. Right?

What kind of gun did he have?

He had the kind that puts

really big holes in people.

l saw this guy.

All right? And l can draw a little bit,

all right? So...

...maybe if you would give me a piece

of paper, l can sketch him for you.

l don't know about this guy.

l can't read him.

Something about his answers.

You mind if l give it a try?

No, please go ahead.

Hi.

You another cop?

ln a way, yes.

l'm Special Agent llleana Scott.

-Special agent?

-l'm FBl. l'm helping on the case.

-Can l ask a few questions?

-You asking the same ones...

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Jon Bokenkamp

Jon Bokenkamp is an American writer and producer best known for his role in writing the screenplay for Taking Lives, The Call, and creating the NBC series The Blacklist along with The Blacklist: Redemption.Bokenkamp was encouraged to enter a script writing competition by friend and fellow Nebraskan, Todd Nelson, creator of the Nebraska Coast Connection. After winning the competition, Jon landed an agent and his first paid assignment, rewriting a horror film for Exorcist director Billy Friedkin.Success allowed Bokenkamp to return to his hometown where he earned the 2013 Hub Freedom Award for his work restoring the historic World Theater in downtown Kearney, Nebraska. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Taking Lives" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/taking_lives_19338>.

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