Identity
(2003)
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IDENTITY, directed by James Mangold, is a thriller set at an isolated motel in rural Nevada during an unrelenting rainstorm. With all roads washed out and all forms of communication dead, a group of people become stranded at the motel along with the shifty manager (John Hawkes). Among the stranded are Ed (John Cusack), a former cop turned limo driver; Caroline (Rebecca De Mornay), a self-absorbed actress; Paris (Amanda Peet), a prostitute attempting to escape her profession; Rhodes (Ray Liotta), a cop transporting a prisoner (Jake Busey); Lou (William Lee Scott) and Ginny (Clea DuVall), bickering newlyweds; and George (John McGinley) and Alice (Leila Kenzle), a married couple travelling with their young son. Soon the waterlogged lodgers start dying in mysterious--and brutal--ways, and the increasingly dwindling number of survivors must discover the killer to prevent their own demises. |
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In this slasher-influenced take on Ten Little Indians, a classy cast is stranded at a remote motel in the Nevada desert on the proverbial dark and stormy night (which of course means that the phone lines are down and contact with the outside world is impossible). Given that the place is suspiciously reminiscent of another roadside hostelry (proprietor: N Bates), it's no surprise when they find themselves being picked off one by one in increasingly bloody ways. As the potential victims include indie favourites John Cusack and Ray Liotta, you hope that this is going to be more than a TV-movie-style murder mystery in which the guest turns are offed according to Hollywood rank, with the highest paid actor remaining. For the most part it is — the shocks are well staged, there are flashes of wit and the performances are sly without being too tongue-in-cheek. Unfortunately, director James Mangold can't sustain the atmosphere in the face of increasingly outlandish plot twists and the final revelation is so wildly illogical as to be irritating.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Smart thriller with a twist that enlivens the stock characters and situations of which it is made; the mood is hysterical and the direction embraces the style of horror movies.