Identity
(2003/Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C
It has
been a few years, but I had all but forgotten James Mangold’s somewhat
ambitious, but ultimately contrived thriller Identity from 2003. Well,
it’s back on Blu-ray and the tale (told with the tired safety of flashback,
killing half of the suspense) of a possible murderer (Pruitt Taylor Vince)
being probed for clues by his therapist (Alfred Molina). All the people we learn about happen to be
staying at the same motel and you get John Cusack in Jeeves mode professionally
driving a limo for an old TV star played by Rebecca DeMornay when they are
involved with a freak car accident with a whole family headed by father John C.
McGinley.
Instead
of stopping to develop anything, more cast members show up all over the place
like wack-a-mole without the mallet including Ray Liotta, Amanda Poet, Jake
Busey and plenty of other faces you might recognize and cannot name. Then people start getting killed and we are
supposed to figure out who did it. By
the time too many unexplained people show up, this critic could have cared
less. Looking at it now, if Mangold and
writer Michael Coney had just taken their time and read a few Agatha Christie
books, this could have worked. Instead,
it is a vague curio at best and it’s twist ending is a dud.
The 1080p
digital 2.35 X 1 High Definition image looks good, especially as compared to
the not-so-memorable DVD version issued a few years ago. Without the too-easy digital manipulation we
get of color and image today, Phedon Papamichael, A.S.C, had to deliver good
cinematography the comparatively old-fashioned way and that is why this makes
sense as an early Blu-ray 50 GB release.
The PCM 5.1 16/48 5.1 mixes blow away the Dolby Digital 5.1 here, which
sounds recycled from the DVD. It is not
the greatest mix ever, but is not bad and makes watching the film more
bearable.
Extras
include storyboards, on the set featurette and two director commentaries. One is feature length on the film, the other
with deleted scenes that would not have helped much. Mangold believes he accomplished more than he
actually did, which is part of the problem with many of his films. It is just more blazingly obvious on a
Horror/Murder Thriller like this.
- Nicholas Sheffo
