Identity (Moderator Note: Spoiler; Movie Ending Disclosed)

Billy, you are soooooo right. I'm not sorry to say that I went to bed. The kids told me the end of all that mish-mash the next day.

Was this a TV movie?

This one -- is it even released to TV?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309698/

Nope, Mr. Wizard. The kids rented it on DVD and what's worse, I had to try and watch it on a lap top.

Hmm...got really good reviews.

Kenneth Turan who isn't very forgiving of bad movies:

MOVIE REVIEW
Crafty suspense emerges as fingerprint of 'Identity'
James Mangold's astute direction and Michael Cooney's carefully thought-out script add up to fine escapist fare.


By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer

At a motel along a deserted stretch of a Nevada highway, 10 people take shelter during a storm only to be killed, one by one, in the sleek and clever thriller "Identity." Throughout, the film teeters tantalizingly on the preposterous, but James Mangold's astute direction and Michael Cooney's carefully thought-out script keep it from sliding over the edge. "Identity" is fine escapist fare with a saving sense of humor and an underlying premise that, when revealed, proves to be arguably plausible even if a reach.

Tightly interlocked plot developments, involving a credible interplay of fate and character, start delivering the guests to the motel, whose night manager, Larry (John Hawkes), seems edgier than even decidedly inclement weather would justify. Among the guests arriving that evening are a self-important faded TV star (Rebecca DeMornay), whose put-upon, fed-up driver (John Cusack) is a burned-out, ex-L.A. cop; a hot-headed but none too sharp policeman (Ray Liotta) transporting a wild-eyed prisoner (Jake Busey); a stunningly beautiful and self-possessed call girl (Amanda Peet); a pair of newlyweds (Clea DuVall and William Lee Scott); and a distraught husband (John C. McGinley) whose wife (Leila Kenzle) has been injured in a highway accident. Traveling with that couple is the wife's strangely silent small son (Bret Loehr) by a previous marriage.

From time to time the filmmakers cut away to another suspenseful development as a psychiatrist (Alfred Molina) and an attorney (Carmen Argenziano) argue for a stay of execution for their client (Pruitt Taylor Vince) on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Deft intercutting with this sidebar invites all manner of speculation as to its connection with the increasing body count back at the motel.

It is hard to imagine how anyone could figure out the film's underlying puzzle and what all the serial killings signify in advance of the filmmakers revealing it gradually for maximum impact.

Cusack's world-weary but capable former lawman emerges as the beleaguered natural leader, a state of affairs resented by the combustible Liotta, who not unreasonably feels he should be in charge. While many of the others give in to jitters, Peet keeps her cool and emerges as a strong presence. In a welcome change of pace from his usual nasty types, McGinley gets to play a perfectly ordinary guy, a loving husband overwhelmed by circumstances. "Identity" asks considerable suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewer, but Mangold's painstaking, rigorously focused direction provides plenty of incentive to go along with this psychologically complex variation on Agatha Christie's classic "Ten Little Indians."

A. O. Scott - NYT says it better than I could hope to.
Here are several contigous paragraphs:


The second-handness of the situation, and of the characters who inhabit it, is explained -- or justified, if you prefer -- by an enormous, gold-plated pretzel of a plot twist that I will not divulge, lest my own head end up in someone's clothes dryer. I should note, however, that the television commercial in which Mr. Cusack is shown in conversation with Alfred Molina comes very close to spoiling the surprise, which is odd since without the surprise the movie would have no reason to exist.

Whether it has much of a reason to exist with the surprise is another question. Once it is clear you are no longer watching the movie you thought you were watching, there doesn't seem to be much point in going back to the movie that you thought you were watching, which is nonetheless what happens. Still with me? When the revelation comes -- the moment that explains why all these panicky people are running around in the rain miles from anywhere -- it does administer a pleasurable jolt. You think: ''Wow. Cool.''

But the impression of cleverness, and the filmmaking dexterity that created it, fades pretty quickly, and you are left thinking: ''What? Wait a minute.'' All of those anxious, obvious characters -- and the game, earnest performances of, especially, Mr. Cusack, Ms. Peet and Mr. Hawkes -- suddenly lose dimension, and they did not have all that much to begin with.

''Identity'' is a reasonably well-executed thriller. It suffers not from awkwardness or silliness, which would make it more fun, but rather from its air-brushed, expensive pretentiousness. Like last year's ''Panic Room,'' the springtime box-office success of which Sony may be hoping to repeat, ''Identity'' is a dressed-up B picture, a hunk of cheese trying to sneak into the gourmet food aisle of the supermarket.

The cheap grubbiness that was always the hallmark of the best horror movies, and that survives in straighforwardly exploitative pictures like the recent ''Final Destination 2,'' is missing from preening high-concept movies like this one and the disastrous ''Dreamcatcher.'' Mr. Mangold acquits himself much better than Lawrence Kasdan did in that nightmare, and ''Identity'' is not terrible by any means, but there is nonetheless something depressing about seeing so many interesting actors stuffed into such an empty, ersatz vehicle.

I quit reading critics until after I see the movie. I don't like for someone to color my thinking or viewing pleasure. Of course, being learned in the art of the film industry, they bring different eyes to the medium.

With these diverse reviews ( and Ebert, who is the critic likeliest to judge a film within genre gives the film three stars ) it doesn't sound like one of the worst films ever made, just entertainment for those who like thrillers. I find thrillers are often not all that thrilling. Another serial killer flick doesn't turn me on to begin with and Hitchcock has done just about every twist ending one could imagine.

As to reading critics before a film -- that's the purpose, to avoid wasting one's time on a film that isn't appealing to your taste. I find I put the film down on a list to see and quickly forget the review -- I also get suggestions from this forum and despite Turan and Ebert's favorable review, I may or may not see this film. If it shows up as a freebee on a cable channel and at the right time, I may take it in.

Thanks for the A. O. Scott review, billy, and he sure is enamored of metaphors -- enormous, gold-plated pretzel?

Letty, First, thank you for your comments on the value of "Identity."

I agree with Lightwizard about critics and crticizizm.
When you find a critic who mostly agrees with you or nearly always disagrees with you, either can save you time.

Not infrequently , our critics are our friends.

Drats.

I'm in the minority again. This movie had interesting shades of Fight Club, to me. With a little background in mental health, I thought it gave a tour de force insight to what multiple personalities might be like from the inside.

I really enjoyed it.

I'm certain this is one of those films you either love or hate and it looks to me like one which has more character driven plot than the usual thriller. Not a big fan of "Fight Club" but I will see this one just because of the controversy!

An additonal noteabout "Identity.''
A "Deus ex machina" means a contrived or arbitrary ending.
The cavalry comes riding over the hill and saves the settlers from the bad indians. The destitute orphan girl persuedby a wicked and dirty old man receives a telegram that an unkown unclle in brazil died and left her all his wealth.

A group of Agatha Christies 'Ten Little Indians" characters are being killed one by one by someone in their group apparently. The writers don't know how to end it, so they make all the characters the subjects of someone's imagination.

Whoopie!!! (cushion)

That wasn't nice, Billy -- giving away the ending is an unwritten taboo so I'll try and quickly forget even though it sounds like a "Sixth Sense," "The Others" clone.

It's considered rather mean spirited to do this without stating "SPOILER AHEAD."

My sincere apologies. I haven't spent much time on film and wasn't "plugged in" to Spoiler Ahead until your reminder.
No excuses. Shant happen again. Again, apologies.

Guys, I known this is off thread, but I just watched A Day in the Life of David Gale. WOW!...

Nite!

Hey, we all make mistaches. I had a feeling you hadn't done it in bad faith but just to take another squirt and the film. Hey, I will see the film eventually so I might hate it as well.