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False 'Identity'
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Lady and gentleman, I have survived my first day of work. Thanks to an abundance of persons named Jean-François, they had to find me another name to be called. Jeff, Jean, Matthew (my second name) and François were all taken. So starting yesterday, I'm Frank Allaire. Awful isn't it? Anyway, today I'm reviewing The Bourne Identity script. The film is scheduled for a September release. Tomorrow, Agent Payne makes his first script review-marathon appearance with a review of the Road to Perdition.
A Review of 'The Bourne Identity' script
Doug Liman picked an interesting story to follow-up Swingers and Go. The Bourne Identity is an interesting action tale with the usual element of a spy thriller. Add the lethal combination of one of today's best young actors, Matt Damon and the hottest sensation from Germany since Marlene Dietrich in Franka Potente. The results could be a hit for Universal Pictures.
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is found almost dead off the shores of Italy with a bullet in his head. After being brought back to health, Jason doesn't remember anything about himself or the life he had before. He discovers a microfilm inserted in one of his hips that leads to a cryptic safe deposit box in a Swiss bank in Zurich. Inside are numerous different passports, a lot of money and a gun. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, after being chased through the US consulate, Jason hijacks Marie (Franka Potente) and her car and they road trip through Europe. Along the way, Jason is hunted down by the professor (Chris Cooper) and numerous other no-name spy villains. Strangely, Jason starts remembering who he is and what he does for a living... Killing foreign politicians for the US government. Why is he being hunted down by his old employer?
The script is a fun read. The story moves forward without any strong flaws. Bourne is an interesting character and should be quite different then most Matt Damon roles. Bourne has a strange relationship with Marie, she goes from hostage to lover within days. It's not quite realistic, but what do you expect, it's a darn movie. I'm sure the beautiful and extremely talented Franka Potente will be excellent playing the part of Marie. My sweet Lola is good at playing scared and desperate, so it shouldn't be too big of a stretch for her. There are no other important characters in the story. The professor should be another one of those psychotic Chris Cooper performances. There are a lot of CIA bureau type of villains and I didn't like any of them. It has the typical cliché of having the bad guy, who calls the shots from outside the hot zone, coming in at the end to face the hero one on one. Seen that one way too many times... I did read in an article in this month's Premiere that said Damon pushed Liman to switch from an explosive finale to a more suspenseful ending. It will be fun to see if they made the right decision.
Good script, interesting cast and an interesting director should make this project one to watch for next September.
You Game?
Last year, I created a private group at Yahoo's Oscars Pick'em game. The challenge was really amazing and it was also extremely fun. We're doing it again this time around. In order to join the group, just go to http://moviegames.yahoo.com/oscars, create a pick set and choose "Join a Private Group." Then, when prompted, enter the following information...
Group ID#: 4555
Password: tnmc
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
