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My own brain is always digging up the time I attended Goldeneye on a “quadruple date” with a bunch of my high school friends. I had finally summoned up the courage to ask Patrick, the school’s artistic/poet/bad boy out with me, and standing at the concession stand I was feeling quite impressed with myself, and my obvious devastating attractiveness. That is until another friend sidled up to me and mentioned that on the other side my date was using his spare hand to hold hands with another girl. This was of course, a much better looking girl. This was Cindy Crawford, only taller. This being a Friday night, many of my high school’s popularity elite were in the theatre with us, and they gathered to watch. I had absolutely no idea what to do. Should I hit the girl? That would have been asking for a lifetime of dental problems. She was on the school’s Rugby team. I took ballet lessons. I also had to rule out hitting my date. The ideal move would have been to spontaneously burst into flames and die. I have read that this sometimes happens to people. But you never get a break like this when you need it. After what seemed an eternity, I turned to my date, dropped his hand and said: “Um.” Just like that. “Um.” My brain absolutely loves to remember this. “Way to go Jen!” it trumpets at me, when I’m stopped at red lights fourteen years later. I mean talk about articulate. I eventually did attend The Bourne Identity when I couldn’t stand not knowing whether or not one of my favourite books had been massacred or not. To play it safe however, I went all by myself (and yet still managed to get startled halfway through and dump orange soda all over my light blue pants). The Bourne Identity is the story of lost soul Jason Bourne. When he is found adrift, and riddled with bullets off the coast of France, Jason begins his struggle back to health with some startling problems: 1) He has some rather unusual tactical skills. 2) Total strangers are trying to kill him. 3) He has absolutely no idea who he is.
If nothing else, summer movies are all supposed to be fun, and The Bourne Identity is definitely that. It’s filled to the brim with great car chases, exciting fight scenes, and thumping music. But it’s more than the typical summer movie fare in that there’s a good story, and laudable acting. It’s definitely worth a big screen look. PS: It has just occurred
to me that in an attempt to see if he would like to go and see The Bourne
Identity Patrick might have read this piece, in which I case I would
like to emphasize that I am leading an absolutely wonderful life, I have
a beautiful daughter, I get paid to watch movies, and I've interviewed
three golden globe winners, and I hope things are equally fine with you.
Four. I've interviewed four golden globe winners.
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Matt
Damon (Good Will Hunting, Dogma) plays (The Bourne Identity
author)
Robert Ludlum’s super spy. I don’t have any particular quarrel to make
with Damon’s performance, save for the fact that I don’t understand why
there wasn’t more development put into his character. Damon took the adaptation
as far as it could go, but was given none of the spice of Ludlum’s books
to turn his role from the well-played hero, into an extraordinary one.
Commonplace script aside, Damon has some absolutely fantastic
moments. His switch from total bravado when he is first pulled from the
sea, to complete and utter terror when he realizes he doesn’t know his
own name is very realistically done. His character’s violent subconscious
trying to break through his amnesia induced innocence is nicely played
too. Damon adds a mature ferocity to this role, giving it a sense of credibility
that in lesser hands wouldn’t have translated onscreen.
Franke
Potente (Run Lola Run) plays Bourne’s saviour, Marie Kreutz, who
is dragged along for the ride, after a terrible run of luck places the
pair together. Potente is once again, showing off her tremendous talent.
She, like Damon, was given a banal role and makes it pop, giving Marie
spark and life that in other hands wouldn’t have been present. She plays
Marie as very charming, a girl that may have taken some false steps in
life, but is just looking for a chance to put it all together again. She
never allows Marie’s bond to Jason feel forced, and lets her be human by
permitting her to be frightened. Her work in Run Lola Run, and now
this have made me a fan. I will be following her career with great interest.