Surprisingly Entertaining!

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2004)

I passed on this film in the theater, but have since seen it several times on cable. It is very well-paced and there are no unnecessary scenes. Unlike many of the other people who said there was no chemistry between Damon and Potente, I think the two of them worked because they were able to keep the focus on the plot.
The Paris setting is great and they used it to full advantage. It wasn't merely the "careening down narrow city streets" stuff; it included some truly French settings such as Bourne's apartment building, which was fabulous (watch, it will turn out that this was filmed in Pittsburgh).
It was nice to see Clive Owen in a small but pivotal role as an assassin tracking Bourne. I was at a bit of a loss about Julia Stiles' role as an operative in Paris. She looked like she would be more at home playing high school field hockey. Her casting seemed thrown in to have more eye candy in the film.