| ||||||||||
|
[proceeds go toward monthly MRFH upkeep] |
-
Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
-
Summary Capsule
-
One party-swinging motel hosts The Annual Butler Did It Convention
| ||||||||||
|
[proceeds go toward monthly MRFH upkeep] |
| reviews |
|
"Johnny," the knight boomed. "I'm your career. It's time to leap back on and ride once more!"
Identity is a murder mystery in a similar vein to The Usual Suspects and Wild Things, but not quite. What you do know in advance is that this movie is setting you up to mess with your head, and it's a combination of agony and anticipation for the twists you know that are coming. "Oh! Oh! When do we get to the FIREWORKS FACTORY?" I like these kinds of films, because they reward the watcher for paying attention, playing a junior detective game with the on-screen action. It's a contest between my brain and the filmmakers: if I can figure out the twists and the mystery before it happens, I win; if they stump me and surprise me in a somewhat-logical fashion, they win, but I go home happy. We, as an audience, delight in being tricked fairly. It's what makes psyche-out flicks like Identity so popular. It is a dark and stormy night in Identity. Ten strangers find themselves trapped in an isolated Nevada motel during a torrential downpour. The film makes it quickly apparent that there's a nasty series of cause-and-effects going on, tying these people together before they even meet. As the night wears on, the strange gets stranger. Murders most foul wrack up the body count, inexplicable events occur, and only a former cartoonist-kickboxer-hit man-record store owner can make sense of the muddle. Or can he? The stormy atmosphere is almost an eleventh character in the film, and it works wonders to give the Bates Motel added menace and isolation. The rain. The thunder and lightning. The wind and lights flickering on and off. And no HBO! Alas, I am sworn to secrecy on the plot details by the movie watcher's code of ethics. All you want to know, anyway, is if its worth your time. Yes, it is, and I suspect it plays well to people across all demographics. Plus, John Cusack is given a quirky role due his stature, and there are even a few other oddball performances (such as John C. "Dr. Cox" McGinley, being as anti-sarcastic and pro-heartfelt agony as you can imagine). Just, for the love of pete, people, stop splitting up when you suspect a murderer is on the loose! If you really want to frustrate the audience, why don't you just lie down in front of a riding lawnmower and paint a bullseye on your tummy? Sheesh. Idiots.
Actually, Identity could be really fun for you if you have no expectations, you haven’t see a ton of horror movies, and you can’t remember the movie preview. See, thanks to endless viewings of everything from Halloweens to Friday the 13ths to those crazy cheap horror flicks they show on the local channels on the weekends, I have almost supernatural instincts and reflexes that put me in perfect tune with horror plot twists and “I never saw that coming!” revelations. Hopefully, you’re not like me, because I can’t walk around at night without seeing slashers behind every bush and brain-sucking mutant leeches coming from all directions. It takes a very rare, very creative energy to really surprise and scare me anymore. I don’t find it often, and I didn’t find it with Identity. Maybe you will. It is a well-done film, and I suppose the twist(s) could be surprising to . . . horror amateurs (pardon my condescension, please). I can’t guarantee complete entertainment, but it is worth a viewing, since you don’t often see Cusack doing the slasher stuff. So whether you think horror movies are incredibly cool (me) or you think John Cusack is really cool (me) or you want John Cusack to be your boyfriend (um, no comment), I guess Identity is worth a late night viewing. Go for it, and if you’re in a group, have a couple rain jokes ready, so that if someone figures out the big secret ahead of time and they have a full bladder, you can torture them to your heart’s content!
I’m not a fan of horror flicks, or slasher films. I have never actually seen a Friday the 13th and have no idea what’s so scary about Elm Street, so I was a little nervous about this movie, but the movie turned out to be a lot more intellectual than bloody. In fact, most of the violence happened off screen. Go see it. You won’t regret it. The camera work was good, the plot was better than average, John Cusack was wonderful (He can take pictures of my dead bodies anytime... wow, that came out more disturbing that it sounded in my head) and no one came into the theatre to slit my throat. What more could a person want from a night at the movies?
Dear Mr. Cusack, Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Clare and I have been following your acting career quite closely for, well, the last 15 or so years. I have seen every movie you've ever appeared in. I am, to put it simply, somewhat obsessed with you. Not in an "I'm going to break into your house and try on your socks" kind of way. More in an "I take it personally when you make sh***y movies" kind of way.
Clearly, I felt that you were trying to push me away. That you no longer cared about my love for you. Nor were you particularly concerned with what you had to participate in to get yourself a paycheck. All this previously interesting work you'd done. All the Tapeheads and Grifters and Say Anythings. All the Fat Men and Little Boys, Grosse Pointe Blanks and High Fidelitys. All becoming distant memories in your career while you slogged around in material that was well beneath your obvious talents. I had begun to pack my bags Mr. Cusack. I was preparing myself for the day I would watch your E! True Hollywood Story and cry bitter tears over what could have been. And then I saw Identity. I don't know if you've changed management, had some sort of Gestalt moment or have simply come to your damn senses. Perhaps it was a combination of all of those things. All I know is that you were great in it. You were dark and conflicted and sad and serious. You were convincingly confused, horrified, weary and angry. Sometimes you were all of these things in a 20 second stretch of time. You played off your abundantly talented costars with ease. You stood out in the rain and looked hangdog and sexy all at the same time. You made me care about what would happen to you next. And that's something that hasn't happened in quite a while. You reminded me why I fell in love with you to begin with and rejuvenated my desire to see you do good work, to make solid choices, to continue to be an acting force to be reckoned with. So I'm writing you this letter today to tell you one thing. You damn well better keep it up. Because you're a smart guy and you've made tremendous films in the past. You're more talented than lots of other far more famous and far less compelling actors on the scene and you always have been. So don't screw it up by getting lazy or complacent. Stop making fluffy, stupid romantic comedies that have no soul and keep making movies that challenge you and the audience to think a little and really delve into the lives of the characters your portraying. Because I don't want to have to write you another letter a few years down the road dissecting at length where everything started to unravel. You deserve to continue making interesting, challenging acting choices and your fans deserve to be able to watch them once you've gotten them on film. |
| extras |
|
Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?
Film Legends: John Cusack [some sources: John Cusack Online] 
Born in 1966, John Cusack has made a career out of playing unconventional heroes. He comes from a family of actors (including sister Joan Cusack), and studied acting at the Piven Theater Workshop (owned by good friend Jeremy "Droz" Piven's parents) at the age of 8. After a few bit parts in movies, John landed a part in The Sure Thing, as the starring role. He quickly became an 80s cult icon, acting in beloved flicks like Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, and Tapeheads, along with famous cameos in such movies as Sixteen Candles and Stand By Me. But probably his most famous pre-adult turn was as Lloyd Dobler in the classic romance/comedy Say Anything. From 1994-1996, Cusack took a hiatus from acting, but came back strong by co-writing, producing and starring in Grosse Pointe Blank. Since then he's been in a variety of films, from High Fidelity to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He also formed the production company New Crime Productions with his two high school friends, Steve Pink, and D.V. DeVincents.
Striding the line between A- and B-list actors, Cusack has always been wary of too much fame. He's been quoted as saying, "Celebrity is death...celebrity...that's the worst thing that can happen to an actor." John is a smoker, been kickboxing ever since his role in Say Anything, and is about 6'2" or 6'3". Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]
Official and Not-So-Official Websites Groovy Quotes
Rhodes: You have a name?
Larry: We don't rent out rooms by the hour.
If you liked this movie, try these:
Feedback
|
Justin's Rating: Merge... into oncoming wackiness
Kyle's Rating: If you don’t mind, I’d like to get more elitist than ever for a moment . . .
Bobby's Rating: John Cusack: Now with sewing action!
Clare's Rating: It was a dark and stormy night... OR WAS IT ?!?
