It, ultimately, ANGERED me.

Rating: 4/10 (14 September 2003)

NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD:
"Identity" has an identity crisis of its own. It strikes me as a movie that wants to have its cake and eat it, too. It's a conventional "scary" whodunit and an unconventional "you'll never guess the surprise ending" movie. For me, it failed on both counts.
The whodunit is full of huge holes which can only be "corrected" once the ending is revealed - so they distract you throughout the film. The first thing I was hard-pressed to accept was John Cusack's limo being stuck in a ditch when it's a rear-wheel drive car and the rear wheels are on level ground and it's the FRONT wheels (barely) in the water. But that's a minor quibble. What bugged me more about this film is that the end feels like a huge cheat, like they couldn't figure out what to do with this routine "one-by-one" plot and so they came up with this silly "multiple personality" gimmick. THAT'S what it felt like, really. It felt like a gimmick because it WAS a gimmick. And I LAUGHED OUT LOUD when it turned out to be little Timmy! It was like a JOKE!
And speaking of plot holes, the HUGEST is the ending. What cop transports a mass murderer with their hands cuffed IN FRONT OF THEM and not behind?! That is SUCH a movie/Hollywood jive-ass scenario. I knew what was going to happen the moment Alfred Molina's character slid open the oh-so-conveniently present sliding divider. What the hell, is someone serving PIZZA through there or something?! How many police cars have YOU ever seen with one of those?! I've seen them on NYC cabs but they're not big enough to slip ONE hand through, never mind two! What nonsense!

GOD, that really P*SSED ME OFF, that ending! It made me sorry I'd stuck with the film when I saw what was coming: a Hollywood con-job.