Identity (2003)
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In recent years there has been an increasing trend to have movies with big plot-twists near the end. When the script for Identity was written the writers obviously wanted to follow that trend, and they certainly didn't believe in doing things by half-measures. In many ways Identiy is a difficult film to review, the plot twist is drastic enough that it changes the meaning of virtually everything that has gone before it, and it takes a fair amount of suspension of disbelief to accept it.
The basic premise of the movie concerns a mismatched group of stereotypes who are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of a thunderstorm. John Cusack's ex-cop-turned-chauffeur, Ray Liotta's policeman, Jake Busey's convict, John McGinley's nervous family man and a number of other fairly bland characters soon find themselves in danger as members of their group start dying in a variety of mysterious ways. It's a fairly standard thriller premise, and although it's reasonably well executed this part of the movie doesn't do anything dozens of other serial killer movies haven't done before. However things start to get a bit more complicated when the characters start to realise that they all seem to be connected – they all share the same birthday. Where Identity differs from the rest of the genre is in the plot twist which turns it into an entirely different movie, unfortunately it's not necessarily a better movie. It's an impressive piece of scriptwriting that makes the wild plot twist at least vaguely plausible, but it does have the effect of making the first hour-and-a-bit of the movie rahter pointless. The movie is well-made, the direction is effective and the acting is better than usual for such a thriller but apart from the plot twist there's nothing memorable about this film.
Ultimately, this is a reasonably entertaining movie, but it is largely forgettable and the plot twist tends to overshadow everything else that occurs.
Rating : 6 / 10
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All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
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