Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Are people getting tired of films that seem to be created simply so they can pay off in a big “twist” ending? Seems like they are. I get a lot of mail about this sort of thing. Still, they keep making them, and I think part of it is a desperation to strike the same kind of lightning that was struck by THE SIXTH SENSE.
So how well does James Mangold, a filmmaker I typically like, pull it off? Let’s see what Millie Dilmount has to say about it...
I.D./Identity Review
Hello!
I’m trying to figure out what to call this… I.D.? Or Identity? IMDB said one thing, the flyer they handed out said another. Likewise, this film suffered from the same split personality disorder (in more ways than one).
Plot: Identity is a thriller starring John Cusack and many other familiar but not nameable faces. In it, ten people get stuck in a storm in a motel in Nevada and, surprise surprise, start dying off one by one. Cusack is the cop turned limo driver who tries to keep everyone sane whilst putting the pieces of the mystery together. Now, I don’t really like summarizing films, and I’m sure people can find whatever else they need to know at the IMDB (my best friend) so I’ll leave it at that.
The Good:
JOHN CUSACK. I don’t know if it’s just that I grew up with this guy, or what, but I really like him. Yeah, he sort of plays the same character in every film, and yeah, he’s no Brad Pitt looks-wise, but at the same time… He has this sort of “big brother” look and feel about him. He’s fun to watch. It’s nice to see a child actor who grew up into a (seemingly) mentally stable adult and even more fun to compare the Dark Cusack (ala “Grosse Point Blank,” and this film) with the young puppy who watched a claymation hamburger play guitar in “Better Off Dead.” In this case, one gets the sense he’s trying to stretch a bit acting wise, and it was entertaining to see him play a semi-bad ass (note key operative: semi). John Cusack playing John Cusack is still good.
THE INTRO. The first twenty-five or so minutes of this film were really on. Awesome. The flash editing (or whatever it’s called) managed to keep the audience engaged while still leaving us compelled about what, exactly, was going on. Enough to make things exciting without doing the herky-jerky throw you around and confuse you bit.
THE OVERALL PREMISE. Pretty interesting. I can see how someone hearing this script pitched thought, “Yeah, cool! Let’s spend money on it and get someone like John Cusack in it…”
The Mediocre:
SUPPORTING CAST. As I said, recognizable faces, but no one whose name you know by heart, really. The only character who stood out for me was the guy who also plays the head doc on Scrubs (see what I mean?) who was convincing as the well-meaning but overly sensitive step-father.
THE SUSPENSE. It’s not that I didn’t scream once or twice, but after you realize that the build up always leads to a death, it stops scaring you and you just close your eyes. Identity suffered from the common ailment of most all horror films in that it never gave the audience a break. This is what I like about Shyamalan and what most thriller/horror director/writers don’t get: Scare the living daylights out of a person, then give them a break, a chance to breathe and think things are ok, before you scare them again. This makes it all the more effective than say, repeatedly trying to scare the audience over and over and over again. When that happens (as was the case in this film) all that one manages to achieve is a desensitized group of people rolling their eyes and flinching as the blood splatters.
SETTING. At least The Ring had an excuse for the constant rain (being that it took place in on the rainiest city in America, for those unaware) but in this movie that, along the dramatic (constant) thunder and lightning, and several other aspects of the environment were all-too convenient and simply overwhelmingly exhausting.
PLOT. Sort of predictable. Well, to be fair, I usually have had figured out the story of “The Others” just by watching the previews, so that might just be me. Maybe you should wait for a second opinion on it.
The Bad:
WELCOME TO CLICHÉ TOWN. This movie has it all, from the cookie-cutter stereotype cast (witch actress, angelic boy-child, the retiring prostitute, the weasel, bad cop, retired cop with nervous breakdown, and so forth) to every horror movie gimmick in the book. I already mentioned the convenient thunder and lightning, but I forgot washed out roads, the Indian burial ground, and much, much more. Considering the film as a whole, it may have been done deliberately, but it did get a little overly silly.
MEANINGLESS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Writers should either develop characters, or not. Nothing in between. These characters are archetypes. We all know who they are, we’re a smart audience. We don’t really need the one or two lines of pointed expository dialogue they throw out to tell us about their history, filled in after the initial script was finished in a pathetic attempt to give them some depth. Here’s a thought: Leave us with a mystery! We don’t need to know why John Cusack quit being a cop, we don’t need to know why these two people got married, and we don’t need to know about the little boy’s real father.
THE END AFTER THE END. Whoo. Remember The Ring? How it had that cool end-following end sequence? The one that made you just go, “Woah.”? They went for something similar here, and it was simply ridiculous. And I mean it, flat out, “WHAAT?!,” cheesy-bad-dopey ridiculous. All in all, it was worthless to the film overall, and it honestly ruined (and I mean ruined) the rest of the movie. To give you a hint at the badness of the ending: the audience broke out laughing immediately following, then, as a whole, coughed and awkwardly began clapping (those who weren’t still laughing). As my friend said, “It was almost good, until the ending. Now I just think it’s bad.” One of the worst film endings I have ever seen.
Overall opinion: If not for John Cusack, a really good beginning, a few really well-written bits, and a good director, this movie would be trash. I mean it, straight-to-video, do not pass go, do not collect one million bucks, trash. As it is, it’s almost saved. It can probably still be redeemed with some careful editing, a different (or simply cut) ending, and maybe minor re-shooting, but it’s sad. You can see parts of this movie that are _really_ good, but then the cheesy parts reoccur and the movie is ruined again. All in all, after getting myself hyped up for a Cusack movie and watching the excellent beginning, Identity was just plain disappointing.
Yours truly,
Millie Dilmount
Oof. The buzz is building on this one, but it’s the wrong kind. People seem to either be irritated by the ending or they don’t buy the set-up or whatever. It doesn’t sound like it’s connecting with viewers, by and large. I’d hate to see Mangold stumble, though, so I’m holding out hope...
"Moriarty" out.
