Identity DVD Review

"IDENTITY" reviews

DVD

IDENTITY

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-26 11:18:14

Provider

MRIB

DVD Review

O.K., let's get one thing straight - movie stars don't come any cooler than John Cusack. Whether he's playing a heartbroken teen in Say Anything or a stone-cold assassin in Grosse Pointe Blank, Cusack exudes cool. If Hollywood was Happy Days, Cusack would be The Fonze of Sunset Boulevard. So what of his latest offering, the intriguing and slightly off-kilter Identity?

When a savage rainstorm hits a remote part of Nevada, a group of strangers find themselves cut off in a run down motel. This group consists of an eclectic bunch including a family with an injured member, a fading TV star (Rebecca De Mornay), her driver (Cusack) and an ex-hooker (Amanda Peet). Oh and a Federal agent (Ray Liotta) and the convicted murderer (Jake Busey) he's transporting so when the
guests start dropping one by one, it's no surprise who everyone pointing their fingers at. Meanwhile elsewhere a midnight hearing has been called to determine whether or not a death row inmate is mentally fit to face execution.

For the first hour or so director James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted) is able to crank up the tension nicely. With the rain pouring down the bodies starts to pile up as do the suspects but it's the final act that lets the film down a tad. Many will see the conclusion as a bit of a cop out but with the twist (which you can see coming a loooong way back) Mangold was always going to struggle to keep the atmosphere tight, given Michael Cooney's script.

The cast are uniformly good even if a couple are rather underused (the peril of starring in an ensemble piece) while a couple of the Final Destination-style deaths may make the squeamish wince.

Enjoy Identity for the tension and the interaction between Cusack and Liotta - just don't expect the ending to hit you the way The Sixth Sense did.

Copyright © MRIB 2005.