Identifiable by how amazing it is

Rating: 9/10 (26 April 2003)

Identity is a film that returns to the style that old thrillers had. Starting off with a basic premise, we're able to go into the movie knowing fullheartedly what to expect. Ten strangers get stuck at a motel on a rainy night. After they begin to know more about eachother... they start to get killed off. One by one. John Cusack (High Fidelity, Serendipity) and Ray Liotta (Field of Dreams, Narc) lead this amazing ensemble cast. Also starring are Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards, Changing Lanes), John C. McGinley (Any Given Sunday, The Animal), Clea Duvall (Girl, Interrupted, The Faculty), Rebecca De Mornay (The Con, Feds) and Alfred Molina (Frida, Magnolia).
The coolest thing about this flick is the eerie atmosphere that is created at the motel... during the storm... with these characters. The trailer does a perfect job of catching the mood of the movie, and that alone should attract most moviegoers. The motel in the film, often noted as an obvious reference to The Bates Motel, plays a larger character than any single player in the film. It's the phone booth to Phone Booth, or the panic room to Panic Room. Now, back to the atmosphere. Some movies just know how to suck you into the story. You know, how you often find yourself on the edge of your seat just waiting and waiting for the huge, shocking finale to hit? Identity is the first movie that put me in that position.
I've always been able to piece together clues in movies to predict the ending. Well, not for every movie I see (like The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects), but most. The pieces in Identity start to slowly come together, just as they do in any other suspense film, until the final clue is given... and bang! Not everybody will appreciate the ending of the film. Some might argue that it was, for some reason, a cheap way to end the movie. I thought the complete opposite. As the credits began to roll I remember telling myself that, without a doubt, it worked for me. Everything worked for me (besides the often bitchy Amanda Peet).
Other films where the cast is killed off one at a time end up being cheesy-teen-horror-flicks (Final Destination), or horror-flicks-that-are-trying-to-stay-away-from being-teen-horror-flicks (Darkness Falls). Identity does a great job to totally set itself apart from those two genres by setting itself up with a well-crafted plot, exceptional acting and an ending that can't be missed. People who are fans of the old mysteries and thrillers must be sure not to miss this one.
Seven and a half stars / of ten stars. (******* Â½ / **********)