"The Bourne Identity"
Review: "The Bourne
Identity"
Posted on June 23rd, 2002 by The Crystal Lich
Like your thrillers on the run and filmed in Europe? Matt Damon is trying
to figure out who he is and who's chasing him before they kill him. But who
he is isn't nearly as interesting as why he forgot who he used to be (and
try saying all that three times fast).
Matt Damon plays a man with no memory of who he is. After being fished out
of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France with two bullets in his
back, he has little information about who he was except for a numbered Swiss
bank account. A passport stored in a safe deposit box provides a name: Jason
Bourne. As 'Jason' follows a trail of crumbs back to who he used to be, he
becomes involved with a girl named Marie (Franka Potente) that lends a hand
in exchange for some quick cash. Unfortunately for her, the people after
the Jason do not take kindly to strangers helping out their targets, and
if Jason can't figure out the mystery soon, it could mean the death of them
both and every other person who has seen Jason alive.
Okay, if you have seen even one trailer for this espionage spy-like thriller,
it should be obvious that Jason Bourne works for some government as some
sort of operative. If you think that was all there was to the mystery (and
assuming you haven't read the best-selling novel this film is based on),
you'll be pleasantly surprised by how things unfold. In addition to a clever
plot, intrigue, and a car chase or two, Matt Damon manages to pull off being
a friendly face that happens to be a highly-trained killer. This is essential
to the story since it follows Damon's character very closely throughout the
film; if you couldn't believe he's really concerned about who he is but can
still kill you as fast as he decides he going to, this movie wouldn't work
any more than believing Keanu Reeves is a physicist who invents cold fusion
in "Chain Reaction."
In addition to being a "Fugitive"-style film set in a cold war atmosphere,
the script is smart, too. Jason Bourne notices everything and executes elaborate
plans conceived in moments, but the script is clever enough to have fun with
Jason overthinking simple tasks. Things that hurt the film are the virtually
faceless and inept people in charge of capturing Jason Bourne, and it's pretty
clear that none of these people would last long again Jason if they should
ever meet him face to face. Sure, it hard to feel sorry for someone that
can kill you before you can move, but it doesn't take a genius to figure
out nobody sane should go toe-to-toe with this guy in the first place; I
recommend something that shoots from VERY far away.
Damon does a great job as Bourne, but it's Franka Potente as Marie that grounds
his character back into an everyman we can relate to (right up until he has
to hurt somebody). She appears both scared and infatuated, and the infatuation
keeps winning out to keep her nearby; the little bit of chemistry between
these two is just enough to work without overshadowing everything else going
on. Chris Cooper does his bit as an intelligence director determined to stop
Bourne, but his stereotype role is thankfully small. Julia Stiles is featured
as a relay operative who coordinates getting agents their orders, but she's
completely underused (nice to see she's getting work, though).
There's nothing particularly new about this thriller, but it does entertain
and is much more believable than something like "Sum of All Fears" even though
it's on a smaller scale. This film reminded me a lot of "Enemy of the State"
with a bit of old-school cold war spy stuff thrown in. And since Matt Damon
is coming into his own as a thinking man's action star (and there are still
a few more Bourne novels that follow "The Bourne Identity"), sequels shouldn't
be far behind if the box office is kind.
(a two and a half skull recommendation out of four)
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