I had no idea what to expect from this movie going in. A friend of mine recommended it to me, but it really wasn't being promoted much at all. All I knew was that it starred Matt Damon, and Matt Damon isn't really someone who I rush out to see. But when he told me that the girl from Run, Lola, Run was in it, I figured it was worth seeing. That's her below, Franka Potente, a German superstar actress who is beginning to show up in American films. So now you can see why I went to see this movie, if you know what I mean.
The film begins with a Mediterranean fishing vessel catching a bit more than they'd bargained for. They find Damon's character, as yet un-named, floating in the sea, unconscious, wearing a wet-suit, some sort of flotation device, and a flashing red beacon. They bring this new passenger aboard, and soon find that he has been shot twice in the back. Upon surgically removing the bullets, the doctor on board also finds a small device which has been implanted in his hip. This device contains a readout of a Swiss Bank Account. Eventually (and suddenly) this man wakes up. He is alone and scared and can remember nothing about himself.
So once the ship docks, he sets off alone in search of, well, everything. He heads immediately for Switzerland to see if he can find some clue about himself there. What he finds is a safety deposit box filled with several passports in several different countries along with a huge sum of money in many different currencies. Also in the box is a gun. He does not know which of these passports is his true self, because all have his photo. He goes with the first one though, an American named Jason Bourne. Thus, he assumes the Bourne identity (and hence the title).
Puzzled and frightened, Jason leaves the bank with passports and money in hand (he leaves the gun behind). Soon he finds himself being chased but realizes along the way that he has many newly discovered skills in fighting, evasion, and languages. He runs into Marie (Potente) at the U.S. Embassy and begs her to help him flee his pursuers and to drive him to France. Marie is quite wary, but Jason's fistful of cash is too much to turn down (see picture below).
And so the story begins. I must admit that I was hooked. Along the way, Marie and Jason fall in love (of course) and have many exciting adventures. The film really focuses on Jason Bourne (Damon) as he slowly pieces together clues about his true self, his job, and how he wound up floating in the Mediterranean Sea with bullet-holes in his back. It is a fascinating mystery full of adventure, excitement, and a bit of romance as well.
What is interesting about this film is that it really doesn't have that many characters. And those who do appear in the film do not last long. I did enjoy seeing Chris Cooper as the corrupt CIA Official (you may remember him as the neighbor from American Beauty). Cooper's face just looks evil. He is a great villian. However, he has a soliloquy at the end which almost ruined the whole film for me. It is one of those "let's have the bad guy tell all to the good guy just before he is about to kill him" scenes. After such a great plot and setup, it turned out to be a really cheap way to tie everything together at the end.
But I really enjoyed this film. Even more so because of its lack of promotion. And since I almost did not go see it, it was a real treat to find such a movie out there waiting to be viewed.
Very exciting, suspenseful, and interesting.
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