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Vehicle Identity
The Episode 2 script reviews column was hugely popular. As you can see the script reviewed hit the net sometime during last weekend. Is it the real deal? We'll only know on May 16th. Today, we've got Hollyfeld's take on The Bourne Identity and a little scoop on Catch Me If You Can. Have a nice weekend and enjoy the column!
The Bourne Identity Review
Hollyfeld, here. I've never been a big fan of spy thrillers - James Bond can be entertaining, but is so far removed from the real world of espionage as to necessitate the word 'spy' being removed from the film's dialogue. The first Mission: Impossible had the right idea, focusing on the sneaky, cutthroat world of those who sell information and their loyalties to the highest bidder, with an action bent. But the sequel veered far, far too far into James Bond territory to keep the franchise credible in my eyes. If you want to find a spy film I like, you have to search for films that barely belong to the genre... movies like The Thirty-Nine Steps or North By Northwest, in which normal people are forced to think outside of their mindset to survive in a world where everyone is looking out for number one. This is hard to do, especially when you have to save the girl, too.
The new film version of Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity attempts to cut a path between the two genres of spy thriller - the action thriller and stranger in a strange land variety. Matt Damon stars as Jason Bourne, found in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea with bullets in his back and a lost memory. He takes off to find himself, a journey which leads him to a safe deposit box filled with money in various currencies, identification in various names and languages, and a gun. Soon, he is spotted by the authorities, and discovers that he can scale bare walls with his bare hands, knock out and disarm able bodied police officers without thinking and speak as many as five foreign languages. Why does he know these things, and why does the whole world seem to want him dead?
It probably has something to do with the CIA agents played by Brian 'Manhunter' Cox and Chris 'Lone Star' Cooper, who go spend the first half of the film spouting important sounding conspiratorial talk about committees, programs and budgets. With subjects like that, you just have to know they're up to no good. Pretty soon they're on the trail of Bourne, who by now has picked up the ubiquitous female sidekick (the lovely Franka Potente of Run Lola Run fame), and 'activating' other spy-types like The Professor, an assassin played by the thoroughly wasted Clive Owen, to take out the amnesiac hero.
If you haven't guessed that Bourne, too, was once a spy/assassin, you're about as far along as Bourne is, as he spends far too much of the time in denial about his identity pre-memory loss. He has eluded scores of police, proved himself both a daredevil and master combatant, and says to Franka's character (Marie) that in the few moments since they've entered the diner he has memorized all the license plates in the parking lot, knows all the exits, the weight and fighting abilities of the guy at the diner and the most likely place in the immediate vicinity to find a gun... and follows these observations asking 'why?' Denial is one thing, but Jason Bourne remains behind the audience for so long it becomes almost annoying.
It's easy to nitpick a film like this (why does he offer Marie $10,000 to drive him to Paris when he probably could have paid her the same amount to walk away with her car, and not have another person to worry about?), but mostly after the fact. The Bourne Identity as it stands (advanced screening, after all - things could change) is a very entertaining piece of Hollywood spy fluff that simply doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. Director Doug Liman (director of the entertaining Swingers and Go) is perfectly capable of creating chemistry between the leads, for example, but the script (by Tony 'Proof of Life' Gilroy and William Blake Herron) brings them together too soon in the narrative... Hitchcockian suspense theory (which exists for a reason) necessitates that the two be kept at arm's length as long as is humanly possible. This is not the case here. Other noticeable (after the fact) problems include an tendency towards rapid editing during action sequences that is otherwise uncharacteristic of the rest of the film - for suspension of disbelief purposes, it works fine (since Damon almost certainly did few of his own, rather impressive stunts, or even probably his fight work), but it brings an unfortunately chaotic element to many of the more interesting visceral parts of the story. And there is a twist at the end, thoroughly fitting the story, which seems unsatisfactorily explained... although enough people noticed that this will probably be fixed before the film's release in June.
The actors, at least, are all fine - Cooper and Cox have done this kind of thing so much that they barely needed to show up, but give what the film needs from the creepy government types. Damon, who has been in need of a commercial hit for some time now, is better than expected as a character realizing just what his character is - one catches an almost bemused tone when he notes his compulsive tendency to wipe his fingerprints from everything he touches. Potente, as mentioned above, is thoroughly excellent in a usually thankless role. A vaguely indiscernible accent aside (it seems equally vaguely explained in the film), her character is filled with a charm, wit and realism that only a great actress could have brought to this kind of stereotypical action role.
Unfortunately, some actors are simply wasted, as already mentioned in regards to the brilliant Clive Owen. The presence of this charismatic actor in any film comes along with a certain guarantee, on which the filmmakers are expected to deliver. However, in spite of the inherent coolness he brings to his largely mute role (a trait present in everything he does, apparently), his character is so underutilized, so barely existent that one wonders why an up and coming star like himself was wasted in such a thankless job. Also wasted, though ably working through the proceedings, is Julia Stiles, in what can only be considered an extended cameo as an information source for the CIA - she manages to build a character with very little to work with (speaking well of her as a young actress) - but again, by her very presence in the film as a prominent actress in a small role, we begin to expect things of her that the script isn't willing to deliver. Good casting, but miscasting on both counts.
But again, it's easy to nitpick - whilst watching The Bourne Identity, one has nothing but an entertaining time thanks to charismatic acting, a solid concept and memorable, even unique action set pieces. And yet as well as things go in the theater, afterwards one must be prepared to answer questions of how they could have been better... rushed buildups, unexplained gadgets, or even just a lead character who seems overly slow on the uptake for such a superhero. Again, The Bourne Identity is still in the development stages, and the screened version showed some signs of it - bad color timing, temp track, etc. - but as it stands Doug Liman's latest is an entertaining, if flawed spy flick that I actually enjoyed... which is more than Bond can say lately.
(Review submitted by Hollyfeld.)
Tom and Leo are looking for Vintage Cool Rides
A scooper sent us this tid-bit concerning Stevie's new project:
"Dreamworks is in need of vintage cars....attached below is the contact info.
CASTING OFFICE
Grant Wilfley Casting is seeking people who own a pre-1976 car for the new Dreamworks movie 'Catch me if you Can'. Must be a licensed driver. Car must be in working condition. Please respond ASAP. Film will shoot sometime betwen the dates of April 24th - 30th. Please mail picture of the car and driver to the address listed below. Please include phone number and address.
Grant Wilfley Casting
60 Madison Ave. Suite 1027
New York, NY 10010
Attn: PRE-1976 Cars.
(Scoop sent by 'Agent TG'.)
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.
