Surprisingly Good - Fans of the Book Will Not Be Let Down!

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2003)

Matt Damon is Jason Bourne in the 2002 film `The Bourne Identity,' based on the # 1 best selling novel by Robert Ludlum.
The plot goes something like this
A man awakens on a small fishing boat outside France. Bullet-riddled and without memory, he finds himself pursued by mysterious assassins, all the while trying to gain back his memory.
I recall first reading `The Bourne Identity.' It was a well-written book. Like the book, the movie is also good. Perhaps it is the excellent cinematography of France  it captured the clichéd images I imagined when I read the book. The acting is surprisingly good, as well. Not many people know that `The Bourne Identity' is the second film to be based on Ludlum's novel (see the TV version starring Jaclyn Smith and Richard Chamberlain from 1988), but the newer 2002 version is much better, and definitely worth wasting your money on.
Matt Damon pulls off the character of Jason Bourne with ease, while Franka Potente does not disappoint. Chris Cooper has fun with his role, and a small role by Julia Stiles surprises.
There is a great car chase in this film. Fans of the Seventies and Eighties-type genres will love this movie. It has the feel of a classy thriller, and never resorts to stupidity instead smarts, or action instead of plot.
Of course many things had to be dropped from the book to make this film. That is only expected. But I'm glad they didn't `butcher' this movie up like some other book-to-film movies.
Overall, `The Bourne Identity' is not a great movie, but it sure is good, as well as surprising. Very much so, in fact.
4/5 stars -
John Ulmer