Boy’s night out and we decided to see director James Mangold’s take on the old locked room mystery, Identity. Good choice, because Mangold really knows how to work within some pretty serious constraints (which are self-imposed, but still) and the cast is really strong. You’d think, for example, that having nearly the entire movie set during dark hours at a beaten up motel in the middle of a Nevada desert while the rain comes down in non-stop buckets would make for simple and not too interesting visuals but what Mangold and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael put up on the screen is surprising and exciting and a strong accompaniment to the other elements of the film.
I really enjoy watching John Cusack, who has the biggest role, and he shows real range in this performance, with mannerisms and speech patterns very different than the normal laidback guy he often plays. Identity isn’t the starring vehicle for him that, say, High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank were but he owns this movie too, right up until the last few minutes. Ray Liotta gets a much better role than the dreck he usually takes, Vince Pruitt Taylor has a small but crucial part, Rebecca De Mornay and Amanda Peet not only act but add whatever sex appeal the movie has, and Bret Loehr (the only kid in the film) is quiet but provides a significant clue to sharp-eyed viewers.
Because Mangold and writer Michael Cooney have come up with a really different twist which most people won’t figure out until the plot shows it to them (I did figure it out about 20-25 minutes before that, but I’m not giving any spoilers here). A real surprise in the way that Bruce Willis’ true, er, nature, in The Sixth Sense was for most people, who then went back through the movie making little “Oh yeah” sounds as they revisited each scene.
Definitely recommended
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