An unconscious man is rescued from a stormy Mediterranean Sea by a fishing crew. Revived, he has no memory, no money, and no clue as to his identity except for the bullets in his back and an encoded chip with a Swiss bank account number. The chip leads him to a secure vault and a suitcase with lots of money, lots of weapons, and lots of passports with his picture and the name Jason Bourne. Hoping to find out more about the person he’s supposed to be, he goes to the American consulate and finds himself under surveillance. Some deep seated instincts and survival skills are resurrected from his subconscious and he eludes security and an army of CIA guns leaving a trail of bodies and car wrecks in his wake. Forget the plot. This is a dead on action film with the accent on a convoluted plot and a series of set pieces that focus on Bourne’s hidden talents. He’s a lean mean multi-lingual fighting machine, a ghost who’s blown his cover in his quest to find out who he is.

Matt Damon holds his own with his pure star quality. He makes "The Bourne Identity" seem better than it is. I wouldn’t exactly say he rises above the material. He looks like he’s having too good of a time going through the motions. He services the plot of an assassination attempt gone afoul with what little deep seated moral reserve Bourne has managed to retain from a past life. Chris Cooper is the rogue agent trying a stave off the collapse of his covert operations by taking care of Bourne himself. Franka Potente is the love interest Bourne picks up along the way for her getaway car. Adelawe Akinnuoye-Agbaje outshines everybody in the movie in a small but pivotal performance as an exiled African dictator who is targeted for assassination. Director Doug Liman ("Swingers," "Go’) keeps the action flowing seamlessly pausing only for the gratuitous love scene (the ideal moment for a potty break) so we can have a happy ending to look forward to. But not before the movie’s highlight - an escape scene where Bourne outwits his hunters by jumping several stories through a center hall of multiple staircases in a hail of bullets. It’s pure unadulterated pulp!

"The Bourne Identity" is a throwback to the spy thrillers of the sixties that were spawned by the James Bond craze. If you want to get in out of the rain or escape the summer heat, "The Bourne Identity" is an ideal popcorn movie to help pass the time.

Copyright 2002

"The Bourne Identity" (1988) - Yes! It’s been done before! - But as a mini-series. Richard Chamberlain is more urbane as author Robert Ludlum’s creation. At three hours plus (without the commercials), the accent is on character development with enough small screen action to satisfy the most die hard fans.

"The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" (1965) - Dir. Martin Ritt: Richard Burton wants out but must go through procedure to keep him away from the bad guys. From the John Le Carre novel before the Cold War thawed. With Claire Bloom and Oskar Werner.

"The Deadly Affair" (1967) - Dir. Sidney Lumet: Also based on a John Le Carre novel with James Mason as a government official out to prove the suicide of an agent is not what it appears to be. Very dry but the performances make it worthwhile. With Maximilian Schell, Simone Signoret, and Harry Andrews among others.

"The Thirty Nine Steps" (1935) - Robert Donat is unwittingly accused of murder and chased across the English countryside looking for the man with the missing finger while the cops and a gang of spies are after him. He picks up Madeleine Carroll along the way.

"Saboteur" (1942) - Robert Cummings is accused of sabotage at a munitions factory and is chased across the Sates trying to prove his innocence. This has the amazing finale on top of the Statue of Liberty.

"North by Northwest" - The classic with Cary Grant as a man accused of murder, who like the heroes of "The Thirty Nine Steps" and "Saboteur," is chased cross country by the authorities with a gang of spies headed by James Mason out to get him. Eva Marie Saint is the love interest. This is the one with the Grant chased down by a crop duster in the middle of nowhere and the finale on Mount Rushmore.