Identity (2003)
Thriller
1 hr. 27 min.
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and language.
Release Date: April 25th, 2003
Starring: John Cusack, Jake Busey, Rebecca DeMornay, Clea DuVall, Ray Liotta
Directed by: James Mangold

 

It is a dark and stormy night; a violent thunderstorm soaks a lonely Nevada road flooding the surrounding countryside. A man and his wife and stepchild have a blowout on there van. While the father tries to change the tire, a passing limousine strikes his wife. The occupants of the limousine are an ex-cop driver and a spoiled movie star who does not want to stop and throws a fit about it. The limo driver rushes to a nearby town and motel where he hopes to find a phone to call and ambulance. But the phone lines are down, so he tries to drive to the next town to only find out that the roads are flooded in both directions and there is no way out. Along the way he picks up an ex-prostitute and of newly wed couple. When they arrive back at the motel they are all given rooms. Shortly thereafter a corrections officer shows up with a prisoner transfer and although the motel clerk does not have to give him a room, he does. The limo driver and the officer manage to stitch up the hurt woman and everything looks to be fine. But then all of a sudden murders start to happen and the corrections officer learns that his prisoner has escaped. But the limo driver is not so sure it is the prisoner committing the murders as all the residents of the motel seem to be linked in some odd way. The newly wed bride thinks that they might be on an old Indian burial ground and that may be the reason for all the odd happenings. Through it all they seem to be linked to another story of a physiatrist and a crazed murder, it will be up to the limo driver to try and solve the mystery before they are all killed and reveal the identity of the killer.

Wow, what can be said about this movie, it reminded me a lot of The Six Sense where you needed to see it a second time to solve all the movies little hidden tidbits once you have knowledge of the ending. The movie is like a really good murder mystery book where they throw at you tons of misleads and confusing storylines to keep you off your guard so they can hit you with the surprise ending. I was completely entranced by the movie as I was unsure where it was trying to go and what it was trying to accomplish. I applaud anyone that can solve this movie before the ending but I don’t very many people will. The movie is a thrill ride that just takes you on a roller coaster of intrigue and mysteries that will completely spell bound and entertain you. I have to admit that I was not too thrilled about this movie from the trailers as it did not seem that interesting but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with a very well done movie that had you speechless and totally blow away by the final scene, the theatre literally let out a gasp of “what the” when the movie ended. If you want a good thriller and murder mystery this is the movie for you, highly recommended.
4 stars out of 5