A good piece, and so much more!!

Rating: Null/10 (5 July 2003)

With the all-famous scenario of a group of strangers brought together by a struggle, and the horrors that rise upon them as one by one, they mysteriously end up dead. We the audience, are once again brought into the world of spine chilling fun but this time from director `James Mangold' who previously helmed drama piece `Girl, Interrupted'. Our director is covering new territory this year, with a body of Hitchcock ready to bring us all into this thoroughly enjoyable piece of cinema. `Identity' sees a group of strangers both with there own unique character spirit stranded in a motel on a rainy evening. With no where to go and no one to help them, the group find themselves being stalked by someone or something with the intentions of putting them all to rest before they can even realize who dunnit? The film follows as an almost classic stalker/slasher flick that never fails to deliver the excitement.
This is achieved by the clever twist and unpredictable events that bestow as soon as one believes to have figured out the film. The cast more than delivers what is required from a genre that is almost put to rest itself due to lousy attempts to revive it. But then again this film is not one of these attempts; it's a psychological thriller that helms all unpredictability in the body of a worn out story that has been revived relentlessly over the years. John Cusack delivers one of his most daring performances to date, by dabbling in the field and crossing new territory to something you never thought he could pull off. He's bold and always a pleasure to watch.
Ray Liotta's portrayal is nothing except what you expect, he's been marked as the aggressive tough guy for his recent roles and it's getting difficult for him to play anything else. Amanda Peet makes a smart move as the character who is almost out dated with predictability, but her cunning attempt to make it all interesting is simply a grinning joy to watch. I enjoyed the directors plot to delve into a genre he seems to know nothing about, and clearly a little ignorance can be a good aspect. I just can't help but think after watching such a treat, if the directing could have been bettered by a crusader who wanted to make a psychological thriller with a slasher genre touch, than a man trying to make a tale of murder with a psychological twist.
Nice overall twist's that are guaranteed to make every smart movie watcher's head spin, but simply lacking the vengeance that makes all good psychological thrillers stand back in pride for re-inventing the way all great films are made.