Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
James Mangold's "Identity" had me fooled with its twisty twist. I suppose calling it that makes it less M. Night Shyamalan and more Mangoldian twist. I was fooled and despite a very rocky, incongruous beginning, I was eventually swept in by this movie even though I am not sure it is the horror version of "Sybil." "Sybil" was already horrific and based on a true story, and Brian De Palma's "Sisters" and various other multiple personality horror films might be superior yet "Identity" still holds some ground.
From the start, I was immediately put off by the mean-spirited characters and situations that are set-up and then rewound to show how they got there. Well, there isn't much, at first. Amanda Peet is a high-class Las Vegas call girl who wants to move to Florida and have her own orange grove. Her car almost get stuck in a current bad rainstorm. John Cusack is a former cop and now limo driver to a pompous actress (an unrecognizable Rebecca De Mornay). They are also in the midst of this rainstorm and stop at a motel, just like Peet's character, and he runs over a woman on the road! Then there is truly reliable Ray Liotta as a cop bringing in a prisoner (creepy-as-ever Jake Busey) - they also go to the motel because it is only the one available for miles. There is also a family with a young son whose mother is the one that gets runs over by Cusack! I shan't forget Clea DuVall and her new husband and they are as annoying as you can imagine, relegated to screaming matches! Meanwhile, one by one, people get killed at his motel. The motel owner (John Hawkes) is a dubious personality, to say the least. And there is much hate from him towards Peet due to her profession. I would not want to be anywhere near these people.
"Identity" starts off with a mean streak as these characters are too selfish and do stupid things, like in any slasher flick. Run and scream in the rain, why don't yah? Still, the story picks up speed when we realize there is something ominous at this motel that has more up its sleeve than random killings. Don't quite cue "The Shining" yet because it all evolves with a double twist that knocked my socks off. It was the most surprising ending since maybe Shyamalan's "Unbreakable."
John Cusack always holds my interest and we are pulled along by this mystery just as he is, and it is a major plus to have the presence of Ray Liotta (though I did suspect he wasn't exactly who he said he was). Amanda Peet kind of grated my nerves and Clea DuVall was wasted - a real shame for an actress of such vitality. Overall, a decent effort by director Mangold to suggest a multiple personality disorder frame of mind within the confines of a horror slasher.
