(3:10 To Yuma, Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, Heavy, Identity, Kate & Leopold, Walk the Line)
Producer:
Cathy Konrad
Screenplay:
Michael Cooney
Music:
Alan Silvestri
Cast:
Ed: John Cusack
Officer Rhodes: Ray Liotta
Paris: Amanda Peet
Larry: John Hawkes
Dr Malick: Alfred Molina
Ginny: Clea DuVall
George York: John C McGinley
Lou: William Lee Scott
Robert Maine: Jake Busey
Malcolm Rivers: Pruitt Taylor Vince
Caroline Suzanne: Rebecca DeMornay
Alice York: Leila Kenzie
Timmy York: Bret Loehr
Identity
has a classy 'broken' start to the movie as it shows the principal characters
being brought together from a number of different angles, with an early car
accident bringing them together at a run-down motel in Nevada. It was a dark
and stormy night... (did Snoopy write this?)
This is the kind of film's that's difficult to review without giving anything
away because it's the genre that sees people die one by one, quickly and without
warning, rather like
Final Destination,
and with similar style and panache... for the first 65 of its brief 86-minute
running time, with the only thing connecting each one is that the next dead
person is found in possession of a motel room key starting at 10 and counting
down. After this point it goes way too weird, starts to claw it back
but then cops out big-time right in the final gasps before the closing credits
roll, throwing away everything you've watched by that point.
That's not to say there isn't plenty to enjoy, given fine performances from
John Cusack as limo driver to has-been actress Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca
DeMornay) and Ray Liotta as Officer Rhodes, transporting prisoner
Robert Maine (Jake Busey) to an unspecified destination, but no-one's
going anywhere given that the nearby roads have collapsed and the torrential
rain has put a stop to any further travelling before dawn, which is kind of a
bind because there's one person in urgent need of medical treatment... before
the murders begin and during which you'll be trying to guess who's committing
them.
They mean business.
Elsewhere, a hearing is taking place overnight for Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt
Taylor Vince), a man, who's not all there, convicted of several homicides,
but some new evidence - which isn't properly explained, thus not helping in
the situation - brings his psychiatrist Dr Malick (Alfred Molina) to the
conclusion that the local loony bin may be a better place for him than death
row.
This is a film that fans of the aforementioned disaster flick series should
rent, but be prepared for disappointment after a cracking first hour. Reliable
support comes from John C McGinley, most recently famed as Dr Cox in
the superb US comedy Scrubs, and John Hawkes as motel owner
Larry. Those familiar with From Dusk Till Dawn will remember Hawkes as
the petrol station owner in the film's pre-credits scene. Sadly, Amanda Peet
proves she still can't act, and here plays a prostitute.
Witnessing a murder too far.
Director James Mangold makes brilliant use of the dark scenes and the
full 2.35:1 widescreen frame. Given that it's shot in anamorphic Panavision,
any cropping to 4:3, or even 16:9 will rob the movie of the majority which is
worth seeing, thus killing the atmosphere.
No problems at all with the picture or sound, the latter of which is in Dolby
Digital 5.1 and sees the thunder lashing down at every available opportunity,
although there's not a massive amount else of note to the effects.
The extras are as follows:
Starz On The Set (14½ mins):
Presented in 4:3 with 16:9-letterbox clips, this is the kind of dull extra
you wish they no longer bothered with - talking heads giving a few lines to
the camera about how wonderful the movie is, mixed in with clips. Pass.
Deleted Scenes (6 mins):
Four, each with optional director's commentary, and with something I've not
seen before - the picture goes black and white just before and after any
unseen material, so we can see in colour precisely what's contained in the
deleted scene. None of them particularly add much to the film, and when you
see the fourth one you realise those extra few seconds are what make up the
"extended version", which is the choice you make at the start.
Storyboard comparisons (4½ mins):
Three of them, featuring the death of two characters and the back-story
to another, but obviously I won't give any of the details here.
Trailers (6 mins):
One for this movie, plus another each for other Columbia titles,
the dire coupling of
Thir13en Ghosts and
Darkness Falls,
plus the excellent-but-is-a-few-years-old-and-has-been-on-Five-already
Hollow Man.
All trailers are in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.
Cast and crew filmographies:
the last resort in terms of "extras".
Audio commentaries:
Two here. One from director James Mangold, and the other from writer Michael
Cooney.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
