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Review

The Bourne Identity

Director

Doug Liman

Year

2002

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, October 25, 2004

I hear this adaptation of the first part of Robert Ludlum’s “Bourne” trilogy of novels is not exactly faithful to its source material. I hear there’s a lot of information and even more situations that didn’t make it to the big screen. In that sense, I’m happy to not have read the book, because I just loved how this movie played: Like a spy thriller very little concerned with specifics, and very much concerned with feelings and circumstance. Mindless fun, one could say. But instead, it’s serious enough to be taken seriously, and light enough to enjoy without much effort.

The story begins with Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) waking up shot in the ocean, with his memory completely lost. Soon he learns that he’s got extraordinary physical abilities and an unusually large set of skills of all kinds, and later it becomes clear that he was a spy of some sort and is now the target of assassins. Trying to escape (and find out who he was and why they’re trying to kill him), he befriends a German wanderer by the name of Marie (Franka Potente), who gives him a ride to Paris for money. Not such a convenient deal, as it seems, once she gets involved with Bourne and thus her life becomes endangered.

The people behind the attempts to murder Bourne are his former employers: A secret project of the government that trained superspies for specific assassinations and other crucial missions. Considering Bourne a loose end and a risk to the operation, his boss, Alexander Conklin (Chris Cooper), sends assassins after him. One of them, known as The Professor (Clive Owen), proves especially dangerous. And in the meantime, pressure is all over Conklin, especially in the form of Ward Abbott (Brian Cox), another man involved with the operation who finds Bourne’s situation rather distressing.

So the film has its complexity, but as I said, it’s ultimately a very simple action movie. It’s all fighting and shooting and running away, oh, and some romance. So what makes it special? I guess it’s two things: The way it takes itself seriously, and the unbelievable pace with which it’s handled. From the marvelous editing (by Saar Klein and Christopher Rouse) to the great choice of music (featuring an original score by John Powell), it manages to hook the audience and keep them on the edge of their seat throughout the entire running time. There’s no stopping Bourne or the people who chase him, and it’s all very exciting. Director Liman gives every situation an extra punch by showing us Bourne’s point of view, and really managing to make us feel what he feels. And since the film doesn’t relate the new Bourne with the old one, clearing him from old sins and crimes, we really want him to survive and gain a rest.

Bourne is a good character, empty if you will, but very human, and Damon plays him all right. Potente is even better as an everywoman involved in much more than she bargained for. The supporting cast is equally good (especially Cooper and Cox), though a very small character played by Julia Stiles seems a bit out of place.

Special mention goes to a car chase sequence in the middle of the movie, certainly one of the best I’ve seen in my life… if not the most plausible!

Intelligent mindless fun… Ever heard that term before?

Followed by The Bourne Supremacy (2004).

“How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know.”

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