"Identity" Rated R
****/*****
You might not believe it right from the start, but Identity is an extremely unique, interesting, and cleaver film. Unfortunately, I’m not going to reveal how or why it’s so good, but you’ll just have to trust me.
The movie starts out in a very Agatha Christie way. Ten strangers all end up checked into the same motel on one extremely dark and rainy night. There is a torrential storm that has stranded the 10 characters without communications or a way out, until the next morning. Soon, the unfortunate souls start dying one by one. No one knows who or what is doing the killing, but as their number start to decrease rapidly, it becomes more and more of a mystery. John Cusack’s cool-headed limo-driver and Ray Liotta’s shifty cop take the lead in tying to keep everyone calm and to find out what is going on. What’s going on is the reason why this movie is so good.
The first half of the movie may seem like a number of other suspense thrillers in recent memory, but its not. First of all, it is very well directed by James Mangold. He keeps the suspense high and creates great shots of the rain falling down on the motel and shadows creeping along the walls. The acting is also first rate. Veterans like Alfred Molina and John C. McGinley join Cusack and Liotta to form a great ensemble cast. The main reason why this movie is so original is the twist that comes half way through the movie.
Of course, I’m not going to say what it is, but it is one of the most inventive and interesting ideas I’ve seen in a movie in a long time. With this bit of knowledge, the viewer sees the first half of the movie in a new light, and anxiously awaits the action to follow it. Revealing this piece of information before the end of the movie is also a great choice. Instead of having it be a cheap trick used as ending, it lets you know what’s happening before the end so you can be surprised with what comes next, but not feel cheated.
Identity is both a very cleaver, intriguing psychological thriller, and an entertaining, suspenseful mainstream movie. It’s rare to see these two elements come together in the same movie, but it definitely happens in Identity.
