Genre: Action / Thriller / Mystery / Drama
Directed: Doug Liman
Cast: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Gabriel Mann, Walton Goggins, Josh Hamilton, Julia Stiles.
I'm now on my fourth or fifth viewing of director Doug Liman's "The Bourne Identity", and each time, I find myself gaining greater appreciation for this carefully constructed and well-acted thriller. A troubled production that went over budget and over schedule, the film was originally supposed to be released late in 2001, but was bumped up to Summer 2002. Reportedly, there were a few different endings filmed and additional debate between director Doug Liman and the studio. Maybe the studio was looking for slick action fare, but Liman and company got it right - this is the first big-budget action picture that almost has an art-house sensibility at times. While Tony Scott can make a picture like this suspenseful from being techno-driven and sleek, Liman goes the other route - the ground-level, often subtle feel of the picture suggests danger can be anywhere, which makes for a more tense experience. The film's drawn-out, quiet introductions to two major action sequences still thrill as if I'd viewed them for the first time.
The film stars Matt Damon (an unlikely action hero if there ever was one, but surprisingly very good) as Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin who, as the movie opens, is found floating in the middle of the ocean with two gunshot wounds. Picked up by a fishing boat, Bourne doesn't remember who he is or how he got there, but his reflexes and abilities suggest something fierce.
Eventually, Bourne realizes that someone - namely his boss, CIA officer Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper), who wants to, without giving away much detail, clean up a mess that Bourne was involved in. Bourne meets up with Marie (Franka Potente of "Run Lola Run") and offers her 20,000 dollars to drive him to what appears to be his Paris apartment. That's the set-up - and credited writers Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron (based on the novel by Robert Ludlum) provide enough character detail to stay interested and enough solid action sequences - including a wonderfully filmed car chase - to keep suspense high.
In my original review, I discussed the one issue I have with the picture. While I don't feel quite as intensely about it now, it still bothers me. As incredibly good an actor as Chris Cooper is (see "Adaptation", in theaters now), the scenes at the CIA headquarters really never come together that well, as Cooper tries as best he can to liven up some lines that seem cliched at times. On the other hand, I very much enjoyed the dialogue between Damon's Bourne and Potente's Marie; they have great chemistry together and even a few very funny moments. Damon is an unlikely choice as Bourne, but the resulting performance from the actor is marvelous, involving the audience in learning about the character's mysterious past as the character is learning more facts. Potente is excellent, while Brian Cox and Julia Stiles lend solid support.
Director Liman has also served as the cinematographer on his other two productions, "Swingers" and "Go". His camera work was often terrific, launching the viewer into the middle of the sequence with a "you-are-there" feel and good handheld work. Understandably, Universal probably wasn't keen on a formerly independent director also doing the cinematography on a 60 million dollar feature. For "Bourne", cinematographer Oliver Wood ("u-571") (the film also offers additional photography by Don Burgess ("Cast Away") and Dan Mindel ("Spy Game", according to the Internet Movie Database) does equally fine work, often bringing that same "you-are-there" feel to this larger production. Rather than slick shots from a distance, "Bourne"'s street-level cinematography effectively captures the film's feeling that Bourne's persuers could come from behind any corner at any moment. When not returning to the government scenes, the film gains a remarkable amount of tension.
I'm sure that this film does not stay faithful to the book (reportedly, the film takes only some basic threads and goes from there, but I'm not sure, as I never read it and only recently have started in on a used copy of "Bourne Supremacy"), but I really found it very entertaining on its own. Liman's "Go" remains one of my favorite pictures from the past few years and the director has successfully brought the fast-paced, exciting feel of that film to this big-budget feature. One of last year's best and one of the finest thrillers in recent years.
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