A movie like Identity draws its inspiration from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. A character even references it at one point. And why not? Most thrillers/horrors owe some debt to Christie and what she did to help the genre. But this movie has a twist that is so good that when you think of the title and what it means, it’s not bad.
Considering the writer’s previous work was the dark horror comedy Jack Frost, this is a step-up. Hollywood is a place where you got to pay your dues and work your way up the ladder. James Mangold directs this thriller. This past year, he directed the fifth and hopefully last Indiana Jones movie. Prior to making this movie, he directed Copland with its huge cast and then the Oscar-winning Girl Interrupted. His follow-up to Identity was the Oscar-winning Walk the Line.
This is one of those movies Hollywood used to make back in the day where the casting, pacing and plot was far better than a bunch of special effects to make Harrison Ford look 40 years younger. As a matter of fact, I’m sure the movie’s budget of $25 million was used solely on that alone in The Dial of Destiny.
Identity takes place in two settings which may or may not be happening at the same time. A midnight hearing has been called at a courthouse at an unidentified location. Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is a convicted killer who is scheduled to be execution in less than 24 hours. However, the defense has discovered a journal that wasn’t presented at the trial that should be used in evidence. Judge Taylor (Holmes Osborne) isn’t too happy about coming out on a dark and stormy night to hear the case as Rivers’ psychiatrist, Dr. Malick (Alfred Molina), is also present for the defense.
The second setting is a secluded road-side motel out in the middle of the Nevada desert far from anything. Larry Washington (Jason Hawkes) is the manager on duty when a distraught man George York (John C. McGinley) brings his wife in saying she was hit in an accident. Flashbacks show that they were driving on the road when they had a blow-out from a high-heeled shoe the car ran over on the road. While changing the tire, George’s wife, Alice (Leila Kenzle), is hit by a limo driven by Ed Dakota (John Cusack), a former LAPD officer turned driver. He was distracted when his client, Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca DeMornay), a has-been actress, asked for her cell phone battery replacement.
Ed drives George, Alice and their son, Timothy (Bret Loehr), to the hotel to see if they can phone an ambulance. But Larry can’t get through because of the heavy rain. Ed leaves the Yorks and Caroline there and attempts to drive to the nearest hospital but the roads are flooded. He meets a young escort, Paris Nevada (Amanda Peet), who is trying to make a break from Vegas. It’s implied Paris has been skimming money off rich old men and trying to make a clean break. They also meet a young couple, Lou and Ginny Isiana (William Lee Scott and Clea Duvall), who are going through problems who give them a ride back to the motel.
And then, a man (Ray Liotta) identifying as Officer Rhodes with the Department of Corrections arrives saying he’s transporting a prisoner, Robert Maines (Jake Busey). Rhodes rents a room and handcuffs Maines to the toilet. But almost immediately, we suspect Rhodes isn’t who he says he is as well. It’s not just because Liotta, may he rest in peace, was great at playing baddies, but there’s something about his clothing he doesn’t want people to see.
Not to give much away, but people start turning up dead and numbered room keys are on their bodies. But what is going on? Tensions rise. Larry seems off and takes Paris for a prostitute immediately but doesn’t like her being there. Lou is short to anger but is he or Maines just red-herrings? You can’t really tell more without giving away the twists and the twists on top of that.
The characters all seem like three-dimensional rather than the one-dimensional characters in a normal slasher. George has a Bizarro like version of Ned Flanders to him and McGinley plays it well as Timothy is actually his stepson and he is working overtime to prove he’s not a deadbeat. Hawkes was just starting to get a lot of attention when this movie was released in the earlier part of 2003 and you can see how talented he is. Larry seems like an actual person you might meet at a motel like this or working in the service industry. Peet is also a talent as a woman who has done some unscrupulous things but wants to return back to her Florida home to start anew.
The only problem is that Cusack doesn’t give the best performance here. It’s typical Cusack just like it’s typical Liotta. It would’ve been a nice twist like the one in A Perfect Getaway, but it all has something to do with Rivers. And that’s kind of the problem. The hearing scenes are so short and spread out that when you find out what’s going on, it makes sense. Osborne, Molina and Vince do their best with these scenes but you are left to wonder, would something like this just happen in the middle of the night? Wouldn’t it be better to get the governor to issue a stay?
Mangold reportedly rewrote the script by Michael Cooney to beef up some scenes. You can tell he’s having a lot of fun with this movie. Sometimes filmmakers don’t want to make a serious movie at all times. And when you realize how the twist plays into everything, you just throw up your arms and say, “It’s just a movie.”
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 
This movie had me hooked until the twist, then slung me off at Deadman’s Curve. Dropped it from an A to a C- in my book.
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I liked it but felt too the twist was a little too obvious. And the ending that the most extraneous character is the real killer is old-fashioned. A Perfect Getaway switched it where we were following the killers but didn’t know it until the final act.
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