There’s hokum and there’s hokum, which is to say there’s bad hokum and good hokum. Identity, directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Cooney, is top-class, 24-carat, Grade A+++ hokum, the real McCoy.
And that is meant as outright praise.
From the intriguing opening shots – which at first seem to have little to do with what comes next – to the final scene which, in a sense, wraps it all up, Identity scores big time and will keep you hooked. Well, it should: I have come across dissent on the score with some tagging it as ‘derivative’ but to that I say, watch it again because I you have missed the point by a country mile.
Some IMDb reviewers criticise the film for its cod - and thus apparently very wrong - psychology as regards the psychopathology of multiple personality disorder sufferers (or whatever the correct clinical name is). One,
As it is psychiatry and psychopathology are very much moveable feast. On the back foot, I might venture that if films always tried to get the psychology ‘right’, there would be far fewer films, which brings me back to the question ‘and who cares’.
‘Who cares?’ can also do service when addressing the the occasional plot hole, but I shan’t even bother listing them here, as the exercise would be pointless.
Nor will I outline in tedious detail what happens, except to say that it involves nine gruesome murders (and further death) and apparent killer on the loose.
The victions are all strangers who encounter each other in a Nevada desert hotel one night where they are stuck in a – never ending – thunderstorm and torrential rain. Furthermore, none can get a mobile (cell) signal and the landline is on the blink as, soon, is the electricity supply.
But that short description is, in effect, misleading and to see why, you would have to watch Identity.
I will simply say that Mangold’s film is a very clever and very entertaining mix of thriller, suspense, horror and whodunit, with even the occasional dark humour.
For this reviewer John Cusack and Ray Liotta are always a joy to watch, but the rest of the cast, not least Amanda Peet, complement their fine performances well. Fundamentally, the success of Identity is rooted in a clever, well-plotted and, in its way, rather original story by Cooney.
But that story, made into a film, might well have died on its feet in lesser hands than those of Mangold. And even then it might not have been so hugely entertaining were it not for the cast, each of whom is, to some extent, a stereotype – but then what stage, novel or film character is not – though each is brought superbly to life and given a distinct identity by the actor who portrays him or her.
I watched Identity again last night and that was for the third, possibly the fourth, time though after watching it once you will know what is going on, watching it again allows you to enjoy many of the details which make gain and added dimension once you know the overall landscape of the film.
The victions are all strangers who encounter each other in a Nevada desert hotel one night where they are stuck in a – never ending – thunderstorm and torrential rain. Furthermore, none can get a mobile (cell) signal and the landline is on the blink as, soon, is the electricity supply.
But that short description is, in effect, misleading and to see why, you would have to watch Identity.
I will simply say that Mangold’s film is a very clever and very entertaining mix of thriller, suspense, horror and whodunit, with even the occasional dark humour.
For this reviewer John Cusack and Ray Liotta are always a joy to watch, but the rest of the cast, not least Amanda Peet, complement their fine performances well. Fundamentally, the success of Identity is rooted in a clever, well-plotted and, in its way, rather original story by Cooney.
But that story, made into a film, might well have died on its feet in lesser hands than those of Mangold. And even then it might not have been so hugely entertaining were it not for the cast, each of whom is, to some extent, a stereotype – but then what stage, novel or film character is not – though each is brought superbly to life and given a distinct identity by the actor who portrays him or her.
I watched Identity again last night and that was for the third, possibly the fourth, time though after watching it once you will know what is going on, watching it again allows you to enjoy many of the details which make gain and added dimension once you know the overall landscape of the film.
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