Hey folks, Harry here... As this year's Summer continues to surprise and thrill we get word that yet another film is worth the trip to the cinema nearest you. This time out it is THE BOURNE IDENTITY starring Matt Damon and Franka Potente and Clive Owens... which is about as cool a cast as comes by the ol plex these days. What is up with eclectic quality casts of supporting performers, fun - entertaining - smart - popcorn movie scripts and movies that don't just suck the plaque from the rear molars? I mean, we can all hear and smell SCOOBY DOO and CROCODILE HUNTER coming... but so far the word has been exceedingly solid on the Summer films this year! YEA! That's more like it. Check out These Five Clips that the French put up of BOURNE IDENTITY that Nuanda sent me... and while you're at it, read the following review and get excited!
Harry, I'm writing to you from a secret location above the valley of "Camelot" in southern California, Jack Black on the tele dressed as an elf telling the Fellowship he just got a Prince Albert with the ring they have been searching for. Very funny! So anyway, its like this: I was one of a pretty large (and expensively dressed) audience that got to see Universal's new film, The Bourne Identity, on its lot, at its own Hitchcock Theater last night. I've seen films there before when invited and in no way can complain about any seat in the place. IMO, its one of the best studio screening theaters in Hollywood.
The film stars Matt Damon - far from his bit part in Mystic Pizza oh so long ago - and Franka "Run Lola Run" Potente, who makes this film even more interesting. The story revolves around a "mysterious" man who washes up on shore at the point of death and with no memory whatsoever. A friendly and alcoholic doctor finds him and "nurses" him back to a healthy condition, but cannot do a thing for his amnesia. The only clues to who this guy may be are a surgically implanted transmitter that we learn has the codes to a Swiss Bank Security Box ñ which happens to contain a dozen or so passports with his face but different names, a shit load of cash and a gun. As the story evolves, he finds himself having the abilities to kick the shit out of people who seem to be chasing him and with this, bits and pieces of his memory begin to materialize; he's Jason Bourne, a government-hired assassin who is now wanted dead by the very people who made him what he is (who have now recruited a whole new team of assassins to take him out). Franka's character, Marie, just happens to find herself going along for the ride, adding the female factor and eventual (and obvious) love interest to Damon's Bourne. The film includes some pretty intense and believable action sequences, but also backs it up with a great story; a few fellow moviegoers say similar to the novel by the same title. The film was obviously shot in Europe and this backdrop is shown off over and over. In fact, there's a great car chase scene with the new Mini car through the streets of France that had the audience reacting like they were in the car with Damon and Franka ñ an amazingly shot, and one of the best, car chase I've seen on film. Rounding out the cast is Chris Cooper, wonderfully cast as the confidant slash backstabber to Bourne, the original Hannibal Lecter, Brian Cox, Gosford Park's Clive Owen as the drunken professor who is the first to find Bourne and the confusing appearance of Julia Stiles, who literally has maybe about 5 minutes of screen time. Her part could have been easily played by anybody.
So what'd I think of the film? I really liked it. The suspense obviously got to me, as well as the audience I was with. Gasps and different remarks were heard throughout the film. Its quickly established that filmmaker Doug Liman wants you to experience and relate to as much as possible - Bourne's slowly evolving memory and abilities that take him through puzzle piece after puzzle piece until the moment he realizes who he is; Marie's ever-growing admiration for a man who she quickly detested when first met and the struggle to continue to help him, endangering her own life along the way; and just the fact that the government has the ability to control really anything and anyone they want. The balance between suspense and emotion is done well - there isn't too much of either - just enough to tense you up and then relax you.
Matt Damon plays his character well. This guy continues to amaze me as you look at him and don't see "famous actor." He looks like the guy you went to high school with and maybe threw back a few beers with at his parent's house at lunchtime. Yet he really becomes the charcter he plays. He almost seems to amaze himself in this film of what capabilities he has. Teamed up with Franka, who herself looks like she could be the European next-door, the two play off each other so well. Bourne needs Marie to survive and help find who he really is; Marie needs Bourne to validate herself - to be needed by another individual, yet its constantly seen she struggles with the thought of just leaving him. "Why does she need to help this guy?" she thinks.
So I left the theater entertained - something a film is meant to do. I headed through the commissary courtyard, suddenly realizing the great Lew Wasserman would no longer be gracing the lot with his signature glasses and philanthropic presence. Lew made movies to entertain the masses. I think he would be happy with this one, as well.
Blunt-ed Growth
