Identity
Directed by: James
Mangold
Starring: John
Cusack, John Hawkes, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina,
John C. McGinley
Review by : Troy Brownfield
To paraphrase
the great philosopher Ernie Hudson, Identity is the
kind of shit that will turn you WHITE. A tightly coiled, well-ploted,
solidly-constructed, terrifically acted thriller, Identity
works because the actors bring utter conviction to a story
that requires total committment on the part of the filmmakers.
This is a great piece of work, and I'm sure that the passage
of time will place it among the better films in the genre.
It has brilliant atmosphere, good pacing, and a couple of
gargantuan twists that would make Mr. Soze kick back and smile.
As with
a large number of great films, there's nothing out of the
ordinary about the set-up of Identity. Early on, a
series of unfortunate events collects ten characters in an
out-of-the-way desert motel. They find themselves cut off
from both communication and escape as a storm steadily pounds
away. Of course, someone turns up dead. Then something else.
What the hell is going on?
Somewhere
else, a psychiatrist is roused from slumber to attend a late-night
hearing. His client, a man on death row, may be granted a
stay of execution if the judge that convicted him can be swayed
by startling new evidence. You wonder how the cross-cutting
narratives interesect, and the parallel stories are nicely
juggled.
There
are several winning performances in the film. John Hawkes,
who was the hilarious convenience store attendant in From
Dusk Til Dawn and did the great VH-1 Rock 'N' Roll
Hall of Fame Promos, plays dim-bulb motel clerk Larry. Amanda
Peet is a sexy, pissed-off hooker. Ray Liotta, always looking
like he's about two facial tics from a meltdown, is a stone-serious
corrections officer, saddled with a prisoner played by Jake
Busey.
However,
the magnetic center of the movie is John Cusack. Cusack, surely
one of the most underrated actors around, consistently puts
together great characters so effortlessly that you forget
how many of them he's done. From his two Savage Steve Holland
opuses, Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer,
from Say Anything to Grosse Point Blank to High
Fidelity, Cusack always seems to come out as the slightly
mixed-up guy that you have to root for. Here, Cusack is definitely
the guy you root for, simply because he's so competent. As
a limo driver thrust into a terrible situation out of his
control, Cusack slowly reveals layers of character as he takes
command of his environment, tends to the wounded, and tries
to outthink the ridiculously clever antagonist. Cusack, normally
quite the funny actor, conveys a thoroughly convinicing haunted
seriousness. Its great work, some of his best since Being
John Malkovich.
I can't
overstate the role of atmosphere in the film. Mangold directs
with a sure hand, occaisonally rewinding the narrative to
show you how one character's actions intersect with another's.
He slowly lets on, with clues and visual cues, that, as Jim
Thompson so adequately put it, "Things are NEVER as they
seem". When the real mind-blower comes, it challenges
the audience. You'll try to turn over in your head to make
it NOT work, and yet it all does. Flawlessly.
I'm sure
there will be those who don't enjoy the film for one reason
or another. It's no happy picnic; that's for damn sure. And
some people might have trouble with the sharp left turns that
made it a truly enjoyable experience for me. Frankly, if you
don't mind having to think a little bit with your entertainment,
and if you don't mind having the holy bejeezus scared out
of you a couple of times, Identity is the flick for
you.
Troy's the Editor-in-Chief. You can email him here,
but don't bitch if you didn't understand the movie.
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