The Bourne Identity

After I watched The Bourne Identity I immediately wished that I have watched when I was a few years younger. In my teenage years I know I would have absolutely loved it. It is an action packed film about a man who is on the hunt to find out exactly who he is. The combination of intrigue, mystery and action all combine to create a film that should appeal to the kind of person who likes James Bond and other similar movies.

The plot is very clever. To start with, a man is pulled out of the sea with two gunshots in his back. This is Jason Bourne, but he doesn't know this, as he has no memory of anything that has happened to put him in this situation. What follows is a desperate attempt to discover who he is and how he got there. What he doesn't realise is that the CIA are tracking him as well because of his involvement in an attempt of the life of an exiled African dictator. The twists and turns in the plot make this a very worthwhile watch and definitely made me want to watch the rest of the ‘Bourne’ films.

Matt Damon stars in the role of Jason Bourne, and puts in a good performance. He does a good job of creating a character who desperately wants to know who he is and what he has done, and creates an air of two separate characters. There is the pre-memory loss Bourne and the post-memory loss Bourne, and for Matt Damon to make these two characters so distinct is quite an achievement. It’s very difficult to be ‘incredible’ in this kind of role, and as a result I will settle for ‘convincing’. Matt Damon is very convincing as Bourne, and the success of the subsequent films must indicate that he is doing something right.

As with every film of this kind there is always a girl. The Bourne Identity manages quite well not to fall into the typical ‘Bond girl’ trap though. Throughout the course of his journey of self-discovery, Bourne is assisted by Marie, played by Franka Potente. Now it’s nothing to do with her acting, and is probably more to do with the nature of the film, but absolutely nothing jumped out at me about her role in this. I feel that you could have replaced her with any other female actor and she would have done an equally good job. In this kind of film, there is a lot less of a focus on the acting in general. It says a lot that despite its huge success across the world, the James Bond films have never won an Academy Award. They’re just not that kind of film. However, despite being quite anonymous, Potente does a good job of being ‘the girl’ in the film.

Throughout the film, Jason Bourne is being followed by Conklin from the CIA. Played by Chris Cooper, he is a difficult character to work out as you start to watch the film. This is where the twists and turns come in because I wasn't sure whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, and this makes the big twist at the end (about Bourne’s identity) quite interesting. Cooper does a very good job of playing Conklin, but I found it quite difficult to ‘believe’ in him. It may be that I’m trying too hard to analyse what is basically an action film, but I thought the character was just a bit fake. He seemed too artificial, and while this may have been the point, I couldn't help but notice it.

Overall though, The Bourne Identity is a very good film, and it is part of a series which I’m going to have to invest a bit more time and money in. In many ways it is similar to James Bond, in that it probably appeals more to men than to women, but I think it has a more engaging plot. If you sit down and get into it, you’ll find yourself enjoying it, and that can be no bad thing surely?