Agatha Christie would be proud

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2005)

Identity is a very good thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Ten strangers with secrets are brought together in a savage rainstorm: A limo driver, an '80s TV star, a cop who is transporting a killer, a call girl, a pair of newlyweds and a family in crisis, all take shelter at a desolate motel run by a nervous night manager. Relief in finding shelter is quickly replaced with fear as the ten travelers begin to die, one by one. They soon realize that, if they are to survive, they'll have to uncover the secret that has brought them all together. The plot is nothing new but the film is still effective. There are some really surprising twits while others you can probably see coming. The film is also very scary especially since the setting is at some creepy motel in the middle of no where. The acting is pretty good with the best being John Cusack. He is kind of underrated though he has proved in the past that he can play any type of role. Amanda Peet is good though she tends to play the same character in every film. Ray Liotta does a good job as well. The rest of the cast include Clea DuVall, Rebecca De Mornay, Alfred Molina and John Hawkes. James Mangold directs and does a good job of keeping the audience guessing right until the end. The film is only 90 minutes long so it won't take up to much of your time. Though because of that, the characters aren't as interesting as they would had been if it was longer. The problem I had with Identity was the ending as it was kind of stupid. Everything before the ending though is entertaining and all the twists are done well even if their not original. But the ending nearly kills the film and if it would if everything before wasn't good. Still Identity is defiantly one of the better thrillers of 2003 and it's a must see. In the end, this a pretty good film but the ending nearly ruins the film. Rating 8.3/10, worth checking out.