The Bourne Identity focuses on a young, male hero who struggles to recover from amnesia, yet who finds instead strong incentives not to, after gathering enough evidence that point to his turbulent past and a

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2002)

Rescued by a fisherman near the French coast, the young man (Matt Damon) is utterly confused by his condition. Not even able to remember his own name, he is further shocked by the two bullet wounds on his back, by his "sudden" ability to speak numerous languages, and by his Swiss safe deposit box, where he hides a gun, several fake passports, and stacks of money from multiple nations. The subject of an aggressive international manhunt, the young man is widely persecuted, yet his instincts soon reveal physical, combative abilities that repeatedly secure his escape. Constantly on the run, a chance encounter with Marie (Franka Potente from Run Lola Run) proves troublesome as she compulsively decides not to leave the fugitive's side.
The Bourne Identity tries to create suspense by assigning its character the difficult mission of piecing together evidence that may reveal his true identity and bring back his memory, while simultaneously establishing the convenience of being assumed dead by his enemies. However, when dangerous enemies discover Jason Bourne is alive and launch their searches, the plot degenerates into a series of persecution scenes that sacrifice further character development in favor of thrill-seeking action. In this manner, the film's most valuable players --"Ted Conklin" and "The Professor" find no truly meaningful place in the film. (The most extreme case of lack of character development, however, is seen in Julia Stiles' "Nicolette", whose role as Conklin's secretary is limited to functions that are inconsequential to plot, such as answering phones and taking notes. What a waste) Yet The Bourne Identity's greatest flaw results from the film's ambition to exploit its main character's extraordinary physical abilities (to escape danger), as it inappropriately assigns almost "superhero" attributes and produces unintended, awkward comedic effects. All in all, although The Bourne Identity does establish an extraordinary problem (amnesia) for its extraordinary hero (a secret, government agent), the film fails to explore more intriguing narrative possibilities regarding the psychological effects of its character's identity crisis.