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| Images courtesy of Arrow Video |
I remember seeing dramatist Copland and Girl,
Interrupted writer-director James Mangold’s foray into the psychological
thriller/horror subgenre with 2003’s Identity in the theater on the
opening night and throwing my hands in the air in disbelief over the film’s
third act much in the same way I did for David Koepp’s equally exasperating Secret
Window. Beginning as an Agatha
Christie inspired whodunit akin to And Then There Were None or the
Hercules Poirot murder mysteries before making an abrupt leap into an M. Night
Shyamalan-esque twist which I won’t reveal here, it arrived on the heels of
many post-The Sixth Sense movies that yanked the rug out from under the
viewer forcing them to rethink everything they’ve initially seen.
A star-studded modestly budgeted endeavor which did pretty
well at the box office, it was a commercially successful stepping-stone for
James Mangold whose next project became the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. While Mangold has veered increasingly into
mainstream commercial fare such as The Wolverine and Logan followed
by Ford v Ferrari and A Complete Unknown, Arrow Video in their
renewed interest in films between the 1990s and 2000s have gone back and given
Mangold’s entry into the twist-ending phase of mainstream horror a new 4K
restoration of the original camera negative presented with the choice of either
the original theatrical version or the slightly more violent extended cut. Including archival extras as well as two new
interviews with character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince and producer Cathy Konrad,
audiences now have a chance to reassess this curious crossbreed between the
murder mystery and the psychodrama.
When Monsoon level rainstorms pummel a group of ten strangers
on the road stranded at a desolate Nevada motel including a limousine driver Ed
(John Cusack), officer Samuel (Ray Liotta) transporting violent offender Maine
(Jake Busey), a Las Vegas prostitute named Paris (Amanda Peet), a family of
three led by George York (John C. McGinley) and the motel manager Larry (John
Hawkes), the stage is set for a murderous survival horror thriller as they are
one by one inexplicably picked off by an unknown assailant. Piece by piece they track their way about the
rain in between motel rooms and trying to restart their somehow broken-down
cars. The ensemble cast setup is a good
one that draws viewers into a Hitchcockian whodunit with traces of Psycho running
through it. Then comes the third act,
reportedly one shot among many, that will either make or break this for you in
the same way Shyamalan’s coda to The Village did for others.
Written by Jack Frost writer-director Michael Cooney
with a twist ending which negated the film for me in 2003 but didn’t bother me
quite as much in 2026, Mangold’s production nevertheless is a well made one
whose moody noirish scope widescreen cinematography by Greek Oscar nominated
cameraman Phedon Papamichael perfectly suits the rain drenched soft-neon lit
vistas of the motel setting. Renowned Back
to the Future and The Abyss composer Alan Silvestri’s score creates
a sense of atmosphere and dread punctuated by some occasional jump scare
cues. Performances by all the cast
members across the board are mostly serviceable with Amanda Peet giving her
all.
John Cusack is a dependable leading
man in this kind of horror environment, something he’d come across again in 1408
not long after while Ray Liotta makes a formidable if not loose-cannon cop
transporting dangerous reptilian criminal Jake Busey channeling his bad guy
stereotype in Robert Zemeckis’ film of Contact. Other character actors including the
legendary Alfred Molina, Holmes Osborne and Rebecca DeMornay also show up though
its Pruitt Taylor Vince, finale be damned, who remains the most memorable
supporting performer.
Released in the spring of 2003, the $28 million thriller was
met with mixed but mostly positive reviews and did very well commercially going
on to rake in around $90 million at the box office. In the years since it has garnered a minor
cult following with James Mangold even going on to say Spike Jonze’s film of
Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation beat him to the finish line. While I still feel Identity dupes us
rather than wows us or enhances our understanding of what’s really happening in
the world of the film, Arrow Video’s 4K rendering looks nice and the recent
successes of Mangold’s filmography plainly make this a must for rerelease. Far from a masterpiece but pretty good with
sumptuous horror noir rain-soaked visuals which look better than ever on 4K
disc now. This initially was a somewhat
silly misfire to me which rode the tide generated by Shyalaman’s surprise hit but
after revisiting the new Arrow edition I kind of liked it this time around.
--Andrew Kotwicki
