First half=Amazing. Second half=Not so much.

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2012)

Identity was a great thriller. It very much reminded me of something that David Fincher would make. It had all these elements that make for an excellent thriller, just combine that with some good characters, great acting, and wah-lah! It was something else.
Having said that, I should point out that the key word in that summary was, well, "was". Identity "was" a great thriller, until we came close to the end. Then all the poop started spilling out.
The basic plot of the film goes a little something like this: While driving an actress to her destination, a limo driver accidentally ends up in a car accident. The woman in the car is hurt terribly, while her son and husband are unscathed (physically, anyway). So they hitch a ride with a young couple to the nearest motel in hopes to escape the rain and treat the woman's wounds. That same night, a cop happens to stop by with a convict in tow. After the night rolls on a bit, the convict eventually escapes and starts picking off the people one by one.
Let me first start off by saying this: What in all of hell were they thinking with that twist? That was one of the most ridiculous, convoluted, silly twists I've ever seen. The first half of this movie was amazing. It had a great atmosphere, great acting, and great suspense. Once the twist was revealed, it was all downhill from there. I think that if they had spent just a teency bit more time with the script, they could've seriously made some changes that would've benefited this movie greatly.
Aside from those aspects of the movie, there are some things that do help it. For one thing, the acting is pretty damn good. John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, and John C. McGinley all give great performances. The only people I didn't like were that stupid young couple. All the chick ever did was whine and scream while the boyfriend was just some idiot d-bag.
Director James Mangold (director of two films I love: Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma) definitely knew what he was going for tone-wise and pace-wise with the movie. The tone is very effective and serves the movie greatly. One of the reasons I said this reminded me of something Fincher would make was because it had that same sort-of lighting. You know, that greenish tint. The film moved along fine until the end, when they just kept piling on the twists and made you feel exasperated.
Overall, despite my gripes with that stupid twist, I still say that Identity is at least worth a rental, if not just catching it on TV, like I did. An OK movie, not a great one like it could've been.