Identity

Review by Clint Morris

"Were a little stuck here George. I don't think we can get out tonight".

They are a bunch of unconnected folk - a cop, a limo driver, a tart, family man, criminal and a young couple.

And the place they're not getting out of is a desolate motel, which is situated smack-bang between disparate flooded roads.

But this anomalous gang have more to worry about than just checking out before ten in the morning. Seems one of them is a sick, sadistic psychopath - and is planning to knock them off one by one.

And of course, it's not who you think.

James Mangold's Identity starts out not unlike one of those tense teen thrillers, for instance I Know What You Did Last Summer. But the thing one asks onesself earlier on in this flick is why would such high-calibre actors like John Cusack and Ray Liotta waste their time doing something as old-hat and general as that?

The answer is: They haven't.

Mangold's got one hell of a trick up his sleeve, and you won't be aware of what it is until towards the tail-end of the film. To tell anymore about the film would be spoiling the film's overwhelming sting.

In fact, you can envisage the film has something planned, just from the film's electrifying opening moments. In a Pulp Fiction-esque kind of way, we learn our band of characters is all linked because of some truly extraordinary events.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly old-hat stencil that follows next... it's just the wrapping around the real gift.

At a snappy 90 minutes, Identity is the perfect thriller, not only because of its sensational cast and polite length, but because it condenses so much uniqueness and gusto into such a short time frame.

With such genuinely exciting and applaudable thrillers like Identity on show, I think it's finely time we kiss the poor imitations goodbye.

4 out of 5

Identity
Australian release: Thursday July 31st
Cast: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Clea DuVall, John Hawkes, William Lee Scott, John C. McGinley, Rebecca De Mornay, Jake Busey, Alfred Molina, Pruitt Taylor Vince.
Director: James Mangold.
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