Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Identity (2003)

4/24/2024

Identity (2003) - Mangold succeeds with crafty thriller

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Mortal danger, mystery and scares are teased on this deft poster for James Mangold's Identity

Ten strangers meet at a small hotel on a very rainy night, soon facing someone unknown that starts eliminating them one by one.

Identity is written by Michael Cooney (Murder in Mind (1997)) and co-produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker James Mangold (Heavy (1995)), whose 5th feature it is.

The semi-psychological, somewhat baloney-ish plot is a bit hole-ridden but fair, with some Se7en (1995) inspiration dripping off it. But the pay-off is considerable, and Identity is staged highly professionally.

Amanda Peet (Gulliver's Travels (2010)) is lovely here, and the editing is tight. And God, how it rains in this modern high-concept thriller.

Related posts:

James Mangold: The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars

Oscars 2018: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites

The Greatest Showman (2017) - Brace for an infectious musical show (executive producer/director (reshoots))

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Wolverine (2013) - Many good elements in Mangold's Japan-set superhero adventure actioner
Knight and Day (2010) - Diaz and Cruise invigorate Mangold's action romance

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Girl, Interrupted (1999) - Girls with mental problems explored in compassionate, strong film

Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 28 mil. $

Box office: 90.2 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.22 times its cost)

[Identity premiere 23 April (Los Angeles) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including in Los Angeles. Angelo Badalamenti made a score for the film, but it was replaced with one by Alan Silvestri. The film opened #1 to a 16.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 2 more weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4), grossing 52.1 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.2 mil. $ (5.8 %) and Germany with 4.7 mil. $ (5.2 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Mangold returned with Walk the Line (2005). John Cusack (Reclaim (2014)) returned in Runaway Jury (2003); Peet in Something's Gotta Give (2003). Identity is fresh at 63 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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4/24/2024

Identity (2003) - Mangold succeeds with crafty thriller

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