Identity Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)April 28th, 2003
Identity
Matinee with Snacks
A real movie-goer's movie is this film. Relying heavily on cinematic narrative conventions, Identity is, dare I say it, a taut thriller with all kinds of delicious and unexpected turns. I had the good fortune to see this twice before writing this, which made me all the more determined to sell you, Gentle Readers, on the film. And it lost nothing to having seen it before. Unfortunately, the very best thing about Identity cannot and should not be put in a review. I beg you all to close your eyes and ears to any and all press (except of course for no-spoilers Cinerina!) until you have seen the film. It is not the horror movie it seems to be, so those who are squeamish about such things should steel yourselves and get the to the filmery. With classic Agatha Christie plotting and a dollop or two of homage, you just need to see Identity to se see why it's so cool.
Written and directed by James Mangold (with a writing assist from Michael Cooney), Identity is intelligent, interesting on multiple layers, and just plain old satisfying. It takes your basic Ten Little Indians notion and makes it new. Probably a couple of you will walk out thinking, "come on," but if you look into some of the less familiar aspects a little more, and groove on the cleverly presented symbolism, you will find that Mangold was on top of things altogether. As the movie reveals itself, layer by later, in the first third, the tension builds nicely. From there, you don't know what kind of movie you're in for, so you settle back for what appears to be your standard horror movie; instead the mysteries mount even as others are concluded.
Mangold's previous works includes Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, and Kate & Leopold, all of which shared strong structures, which were then made stronger or weaker by their casts, depending on the film. Identity is a more mature work, but definitely benefits from a great cast. Swimming among such talented actors as John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Clea DuVall, john C. McGinley, and other names you may not recognize, is an entire school of red herring, boilig together in a rainy Nevada soup (if you will pardon the mixed metaphor). Discerning the clues from all the divergent information is interesting and diverting, and the dominoes fall in an artful and well-structured way, even on a second viewing. Mangold does not force feed you hints or elements, he just drops them in there for you to find or not. And then he dumps an alarming, relentless rainstorm on the whole thing, adding incredibly to the mood and tone. The production design is also fabulous.
The pre-release preview is as smartly edited as the film itself - giving you a definite sense of the terror these characters are experiencing but not much more. Let's hope Columbia Pictures has the sense to keep it that way. I realize I'm not telling you much more than "this was good" and "that was cool" but, I am telling you, you'll thank me for dissembling later.
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These reviews (c) 2003 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
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