La mémoire dans la peau

James Bond and Ethan Hunt take notice. "The Bourne Identity" is my new standard for contemporary spy thrillers. Gone (or almost gone) are the special effects that James and Ethan rely on all too heavily. Hell, in those franchises the special effects have virtually replaced story and characters. "The Bourne Identity" has a very straightforward story to tell, a mystery that slowly unravels. Spycraft is not all about technical gizmos, but requires human brains and human brawn (and a fair amount of gunplay and car chases).

Set in various locales in Switzerland and France during the winter much of the visuals for "The Bourne Identity" are gray and damp. That's a plus, Monte Carlo and like locales can get boring. Mat Damon is great as Jason Bourne, fished from the Mediterranean mostly dead by gunshot wounds. A total amnesiac, he slowly realizes that he possesses the deadly skills of a well-trained assassin, and that someone is out to kill him. Franka Potente is equally good as the young woman swept up in his life and forced to run with him. Run or be killed.

I can't say enough good things about this movie. Doug Limon, thanks, you did a great job.

I enjoyed this. It had been one of those movies I had heard about but had never gotten around to. There are times when it seems that Matt Damon is such a cold fish (ala The Good Shepherd), that one has trouble getting connected to him. In this film he is really believable as a man who has all the training of a killing machine, but a soft side that bears exploring. The character is put into situations he can't understand but can only react to. He has compassion but little understanding. What an interesting role. If there's a shortcoming, it's that the motivations of the bad folks aren't all that clear. It's still a delight to watch his relationship with his I-only- need-a-ride partner develop. There is a level of subtlety that most films of this type don't have. The car chases are spectacular but, for once, they backed down on the pyrotechnics. I appreciated this.

This story has been done several times in the past, most recently in "A Long Kiss Goodnight". It's also true that Doug Liman and the producers created their own Jason Bourne mythology,since this movie is different in many ways to the book. But the truth is Liman takes an old story and puts a new fast paced spin on it.

Matt Damon stars as the enigmatic assassin who just wants to figure out who he is. As he travels from city to city he's followed by CIA agents who want to dispose of him to save their own jobs. He's helped along the way by Marie played by the brilliant Franka Potente. Together they come face to face with the people that want them dead.

The cast is great and so is the story. This film should be on everyone's top ten list.

Maybe its me, but it gives me a familiar feeling when I see a guy in a turtleneck sweater, an overcoat and a rifle. I know its a cliche, but why would this movie re-invent the medium anyway?

I also like car chases through foreign cities, passports and accents. So with all that intact, I liked 'The Bourne Identity' very much. It has all the elements of the genre. You know what you're getting and you get what you want.

There is no point in going over the plot. It gets confusing about 3/4 in but it does not matter that much. Its fun for two hours and that's it.

I have been a huge fan of Franka Potente since becoming mildly obsessed with 'Run Lola Run' and she does not disappoint. She has some real chemistry with Matt Damon and has a very sweet, inviting way about her. She is not traditional leading actress material, thank God, and I credit the producers for hiring her. Even more so when you realize that Julia Stiles has a small part in this movie. I am sure someone wanted a bigger 'name' to be Matt's female lead and it might have occured to more than one exec to switch Franka and Julia, but obviously I am glad that did not happen.

Clive Owen adds another strong performance to his resume. He has only one big scene, really, but makes the most of it. Chris Cooper and Brian Cox are known for their sturdy work and they also deliver here.

Excellent, summertime entertainment. 8/10.

I have grown extremely tired of the typical formula spy film like Bond, or the juvenile stunt exhibition "Triple X." There have been a bare handful of spy films that feature relatively realistic spy thrillers, especially recently with a concentration on spectacular movies that have less substance than cotton candy.

Besides "The Bourne Identity," "Ronin" is the only other recent spy movie I can think of that didn't feature skydiving, bungie jumping, skiing downhill while shooting innumerable bad guys, laser pens, cars with ejection seats, or silicone breasted women with names you'd be vaguely embarrassed to say in front of your mother. Most of the crap that passes for an espionage film has no plot or reason for existing other than to meet a quota of explosions and cleavage in order to draw the summer action film crowd.

While "Bourne" does not have a particularly deep plot, it is consistent and focused. The focus is entirely upon Bourne and how he is to deal with having no memory of his past, being hunted without knowing why. Some people have complained about being confused by the movie. I for one, do not need to have everything spelled out since in many cases this smacks of unreality in the first place; the essence of espionage is drawing conclusions from very sketchy information. If you can't handle a little of that, you probably should stick to Disney films or TV's Scooby Doo where everything is explained in the end. We never find out about what is in the case in "Ronin" and I can live without some information being filled in about Bourne's past.

To those who have moaned about the incompatibility of the book and the movie, seek help. There are probably several things that work in the book that would either be boring and take too much screen time to explain, or would be viewed as cliche to modern screen audiences. As I remember, I liked the book, and I definitely like this movie. I view any movie adaptation as an interpretation of the book rather than a translation from words to pictures anyway.

As for realism, most of the action scenes are believable, no super-gadgets are to be seen, no incredibly lovely models fall madly in bed with Bourne, and the hero shows definite signs of physical vulnerability despite a very high level of training and competance. As someone who has trained in martial arts for over 10 years, unrealistic fight scenes are a pet peeve. The fights in "Bourne" are fast, nasty, and very realistic while still being entertaining for the layman. (And yes, taking a gun away from some idiot who is standing well within your striking radius without getting shot is definitely doable, though I had serious doubts until we tested it for ourselves with plastic dart guns in the dojo several years ago).

While not being perfect, "The Bourne Identity" is, simply put, several grades above the typical spy film. Being focused on an individual level rather than involving itself huge political ramifications lends it another layer of respectability rather than detracting from it as some comments have implied since it remains a human problem on a comprehensible scale. The mysteries that are left are bigger mysteries for Bourne than us, and I think should be viewed as intentional omissions rather than loose ends. The implausibilities are kept to a minimum and the realism to as high a level as possible while still being spectacular enough to meet the expectations of the genre.