MOVIE - THE BOURNE IDENTITY - Review Rating $$$$$ $1/2 (OUT OF 10)
STARRING MATT DAMON, FRANKA POTENTE, CLIVE OWEN & CHRIS COOPER
This movie was originally supposed to be released last Fall. When I saw the previews, back then, I decided to read the novel by the late Robert Ludlum on which the movie is based. The book, as are most of Ludlum's thrillers, was an intense, frantic, hard to put down page turner. The movie is decidedly not of the same caliber. As with "The Sum of all Fears" there are major plot deviations that undermine the on-screen version reducing it to just another action movie.
In the book, Bourne's love interest Marie, is an intelligent, strong-willed woman working for the Canadian government. Bourne initially takes her hostage to facilitate his own escape. The development of their relationship, among other things, is used to explore the contradictory personality of our amnesiac tic hero. In the movie she is reduced to a young, flighty European willing to shack up with almost anybody for a price. She gets caught up, unwittingly but voluntarily, in international intrigue. As written, the relationship is virtually devoid of the psychological exploration of the various strands of Bourne's Identity. The progression of the relationship, in the movie, lacks a raison d'être and more importantly sizzle.
The other major deviation is the deletion of the subplot dealing with Bourne's mission to find and deal with The Jackal, a free lance assassin, with extreme prejudice. Considering that this subplot drives the 2nd and 3rd parts of the trilogy one is left to wonder how the inevitable sequels will maintain any resemblance to the original books.
There are a few plot holes in this thriller that you will will have to ignore to enjoy the movie for what it is. The biggest is the assignation of an disposed African leader. The sniper is miraculously able to complete his mission by taking a head shot through a very small staircase window with no prior indication the target was walking down the staircase. He somehow, later, can't hit Bourne in an open field.
That being said, Damon gives a more credible performance than his friend, Ben Affleck, did in "The Sum of All Fears". Both represent a move toward thinking, as opposed to muscle-bound, heroes in Hollywood. See David Ansen's article, in Newsweek, for more on this.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/760591.asp?cp1=1
The movie is also a better adaptation of a Ludlum novel than previous attempts such as the Ostermann Weekend. I'm still trying to make sense of the movie version, of that, some twenty years later. And since "The Bourne Identity", isn't dealing with such weighty topics such as nuclear annihilation, the dumbing down effect doesn't carry as great a penalty as it does in "The Sum of All Fears".
The best that can be said about "The Bourne Identity" is that, taken for what it has become, it is passable. I recommend reading the book instead though. It will cost you less and be much more entertaining.
Alternate reviews:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-bourne14f.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/mv_reviews/review.asp?mid=2044124
Official Website:
http://www.thebourneidentity.com/
MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002 LIST
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2003
David Schwartz.
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