The Bourne Identity is one reason it hasn’t been an appallingly awful summer for grown-up moviegoers. Among the usual cancer that infects and oozes from the multiplex this time of year have been several films that have dared to be sharp, almost brainy, this film included. Sandwiched into a summer that has included the vapid likes of The Scorpion King, Bad Company and Jason X, it’s a relieving breath of air for a suffocating film reviewer. But how could studio executives let a film that has brawn and brains be released during the summer you ask? The world may never know.

Although it sets itself up to be a run-of-the-mill action flick, The Bourne Identity hurdled my expectations and managed to grow a brain along the way thanks to the whip-smart direction of indie fave Doug Liman. The gas pedal on this thriller is depressed slowly, and begins by showing Italian fishermen off the southern coast of France spotting a dead man (Matt Damon) floating in the water. When they pull him aboard they realize that he’s not dead, just unconscious, with two bullet holes in his back. The ship’s doctor goes to work on him, removing the bullets and finding a small laser pointer with a Swiss bank account in it. The unconscious man comes back to the world of the living and can’t remember anything that happened to him previous to his being pulled from the Mediterranean. As soon his boat reaches port he speeds to the bank in Zurich where he finds a safety deposit box loaded with information he hopes will solve many of his life’s riddles. The first passport he picks up shows his name is Jason Bourne and that he lives in Paris, but the box is loaded with passports showing him with different names and nationalities. It also contains thousands of dollars in different denominations and a pistol. At this point he doesn’t know who he really is or where he lives, but at least he’s wealthy.

Unlike his character in Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon really isn’t stretched too much in the acting department here. Since he doesn’t know who he can trust all he needs to do is kick ass and look confused. He finds that he’s fluent in several languages and that he can go toe-to-toe in several fighting styles. Not knowing why he knows these things, he adapts to his situation and keeps moving, trying to make his way to Paris.

Starring:
Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox
Directed By:
Doug Liman
Release Date:
June 14, 2002
MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for violence and some language.
Distributors:
Universal Pictures
3 Stars

The authorities are pursuing him like hungry dogs chasing a raw steak, so he pays a woman $10,000 to drive him to Paris. The woman, Maria (Franka Potente from Run Lola Run ) becomes his most trusted ally in his quest to find out who he really is. The body count starts climbing as hired killers from all over Europe converge upon Bourne to help him take the eternal dirt nap and keep him from obtaining this knowledge. The authorities are led by Chris Cooper, who played the ethically torn sheriff in Lone Star . His job here is to find out what Bourne knows and take him out by any means necessary if it’s required. He’s not evil, per se, but rather a government man who needs to clean up a fouled up job before a Senate subcommittee finds out about the trouble.

As the token female/love interest Franka Potente was my favorite in this film as the student getting the screw job from the American embassy on a visa application. Naïve and confused, she’s the audience’s representative in the film. Finding herself helping a man she doesn’t know and slowly (as in all movies) realizing that she has feelings for him, her character was the perfect foil for Bourne since she knew only slightly less about the situation than she did. Her strong female character is refreshing to see in a Hollywood movie, and she helps the audience learn more by not knowing anything about the situation.

The thrills in this film are exhilarating. Whether it’s a car plunging down a staircase, a man jumping seven stories while firing a gun or two assassins pursuing each other in an open field, it’s engrossing. What Bourne is learning for the first time the audience is also learning for the first time and his confusion and shock at the chase makes it invigorating to see.