FILM CRITIQUE:
Matt Damon is more than convincing as Jason Bourne, a hired assassin trained and contracted out by a rogue agency operating inside the cover of a legitimate U.S. government security agency. Whether CIA or NSA or something else, who knows? While Damon is somewhat too young for this role as he doesn't project anything near the authority of, say, a Sean Connery, he still gives it his earnest and athletic best and I certainly don't have a problem with his performance.

As for Franka Potente, well, let's just say that she has been one of my very favorite actresses for some time now. Other film critics have invariably referred to her earlier role in German director Tom Tykwer's movie, "Run, Lola, Run." A fine job, but not her best, especially for those of us who made the effort to see her in Tom Tykwer's later movie, "The Princess and the Warrior," last year.

I do have two quibbles that may loom either large or small depending on how demanding you might be in the quality of your summer cinematic fare. First of all, it is obvious that Matt Damon, while, young, athletic, and suitably bulked up for this role, does not have the martial arts prowess to carry the fight sequences in this movie. As a result, the cinematographer either speeds up the filming of the fight scenes or zooms the camera lens in so closely that the actual fisticuffs are somewhat difficult to discern. A little cinematic legerdemain, you might call it.

Secondly, the car chase scenes though the streets of Paris are very poorly filmed. You would think that one day somebody with half a brain would actually try to exceed the two very best auto chase scenes ever filmed, each now some 30 years of age. I am, of course, speaking about "Bullitt"(1968) and "The French Connection"(1975).

Don't film schools ever study this stuff to see what cinematographers should do to get it right? Car chase scenes are invariably more dramatic when filmed from behind in long, uninterrupted sequences. In "The Bourne Identity," the car chase scenes are filmed from the front, rear, and to the side in constantly changing scenes where you lose all track of the action as a cohesive unit. Each chase sequence in this movie is filmed as a separate unit with little or no visual connectedness to the next
sequence with the result that much, if not all, of the dramatic effect is lost. It all degrades down into a meal of cinematic kibbles instead of a fine feast for the eyes and mind.

"The Bourne Identity" is a pretty good popcorn thriller that is filled with special effects but is largely carried by the personal chemistry of Damon and Potente.

Chris Cooper is, as always, a very professional actor and a highly enjoyable screen presence. A minor annoyance is the use of the lovely Julia Stiles in a supporting role that is so minor as to render her virtually a walk-on cameo without any developed screen personality whatsoever. This is a shame and a waste of her considerable talent. I would be curious as to how much of her performance was left on the cutting room floor.

In summary, "The Bourne Identity" is a competent two and one half star summer action flick that I have elevated to a three star rating because of my admiration for Franka Potente. She alone is easily worth the half star addition and I am thrilled that she has been chosen to play in this wide release American film.
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FILM SYNOPSIS:
A small fishing boat in the Mediterranean stumbles upon a body floating face up in the stormy sea sixty miles out from the port city of Marseilles, France. The unconscious body, dressed in a diver's wet suit, is hauled aboard and undressed on a table by one of the fishermen, who appears to have had some medical training. The other fisherman gathered around are shocked to see two bullet holes in the back of the person and watch in horrified fascination as the medically trained man plucks these two bullets from the back of the victim.

An implant is also found in the victim's arm, and, when removed, appears to be a small shiny cylindrical object with a laser light that flashes the name of a Geneva bank along with an account number on the wall of the vessel. Very strange, indeed.

The victim wakes up, speaking English, but is also able to converse in French with his rescuers. After recuperating somewhat from his ordeal, he comes to the shocking discovery that his mind is a total blank. He doesn't know who he is or what he was doing there, floating out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea miles from anywhere.

His first solution to this puzzle is to go to that bank in Geneva, and a high tech identity check allows him to examine the contents of the box in question. He finds this large safe deposit box to be filled with a great amount of cash and several passports under two different names, one of a Jason Bourne who apparently resides in Paris, but who also has passports from other countries. The other identity is of a Kane, who resides in Canada, and likewise has valid passports for Brazil and several other countries.

The pictures all match his face, so he knows that at least he has found some small, albeit confusing, clues as to his identity. He opts for the Jason Bourne identity. Bourne then borrows a large red bank bag and carries the contents out of the bank. He neglects to notice a bank guard furtively placing a telephone call as he leaves.

Bourne as the amnesiac, realizing from his accent that he must be an American, goes to the United States Consulate in Geneva for help. He notices a young woman complaining to a teller at a window about her problems in obtaining a visa. Passing through another room, he is stopped by some guards who attempt to apprehend him. His mind subconsciously kicks into survival mode and Bourne turns into a fighting machine who makes quick work in dispatching the guards.

Escaping out onto the roof of the consulate, he climbs down the vertical wall, all the while with the heavily armed police inside mounting a room by room search for him.

On the wintry street below, he runs into the hapless woman, Marie Kreutz, parked on the street in her Mini, wondering what to do next about her visa problem. He jumps into her car and offers her $10,000, cash in hand from his red bag, to drive him to Paris. After upping the ante, Marie reluctantly agrees, all the while deeply suspicious of anyone who would pay her so much to go anywhere.

Naturally, the areas both inside and outside the U.S. consulate is a high security area with cameras mounted everywhere. Unbeknownst to Jason and Marie, the images of the two of them are picked up by an obscure, extremely high tech security agency in Washington, D.C., headed by Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper), who has been attempting to locate Jason Bourne with a great sense of urgency.

Ted has to explain to his superior, Ward Abbott (Brian Cox), what happened to the mission gone awry with their agent, Jason Bourne. It seems that this is a special ops assassination agency and is operating inside another, legitimate intelligence agency with the financial cover from the U.S. Congress provided by Abbott.

It develops that Bourne was assigned to an assassination detail involving the head of an African state, Nykwana Wombosi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). It turns out that Wombosi is still alive and their agent has disappeared until now, and Conklin doesn't know what he has on his hands.

He suspects that Bourne has turned "rogue" on him and now he must be stopped (assassinated) at all costs. One thing this secret agency does well is cover up their tracks, and Conklin doesn't need a rogue agent out there who has either flipped over to the other side or is about to spill his guts to the press. The alarm goes out and every agent in every city in Europe is activated in this quest to kill Bourne.

The rest of "The Bourne Identity" is a cat and mouse game between Bourne and Kreutz and those out to kill them. Of course the mouse bites back and even some of the cats become mice in Bourne's search for his identity.

Please keep in mind that although he now knows his own name, Bourne still doesn't know who he is, what he does for a living, or why he was floating out in the middle of the Mediterranean with two bullet holes in his back. So he and Marie Kreutz have to face the constant threat and the terror of assassins popping, literally, out of the woodwork to kill them.