Incognito (1997)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writer (WGA):

Jordan Katz (written by)

Release Date:

13 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Harry Donovan is a master in the art of deception... trapped in a lie so perfect even the truth can't save him.

Plot:

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for $500,000. The girl he meets and gets into bed with in Paris...

Plot Keywords:

Art | Rembrandt | Forger | Female Nudity | Murder

Cast

Jason Patric	...	Harry Donovan
Irène Jacob	...	Prof. Marieke van den Broeck
Thomas Lockyer	...	Alastair Davies
Ian Richardson	...	Turley (prosecutor)
Simon Chandler	...	Iain Ill
Pip Torrens	...	White (defense attorney)
Michael Cochrane	...	Deeks
Rod Steiger	...	Milton A. Donovan
Togo Igawa	...	Agachi
Joseph Blatchley	...	Prof. Scheerding
Paul Brennen	...	Det. Sgt. Steed
Olivier Pierre	...	Lecuyer
Peter Gale	...	Westerbrook
David Marrick	...	Bright
Dudley Sutton	...	Halifax / Offul

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:12 (video rating) | Netherlands:AL | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

There is a scene in the film where Harry Donovan finds out about the death of his father (played by Rod Steiger) from heart failure in a newspaper clipping. The date of death given was Tuesday, July 9. Rod Steiger died five years later on Tuesday, July 9, 2002 of pneumonia and kidney failure.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Harry Donovan and his father talks in the phone about the exchange rate between US Dollars and Dutch Guilders. Later on, when still in Amsterdam, Harry buys some sort of old painting in a shop. He pays however, in German Marks.

Quotes:

Harry Donovan: I'm not a shoe-maker, and I don't work for slobs off the street. I work with people that I know. You can leave now.
Alastair Davies: It's a circular problem.
Harry Donovan: Now, do I have to knock your ass down the stairs?
Alastair Davies: No, no. Gentlemen. Um, we'll be staying at the Carlyle until, uh, Sunday. Think it over.
Harry Donovan: Watch your fingers.
[Harry slams the door shut as they leave]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002) (V)

Not bad

A bit of a pleasant surprise (considering its lack of theatrical release in the NY area), Incognito is a fairly involving drama/thriller involving a disturbed artist who's gotten so entangled in the underworld of art forgery he's never formed an identity of his own...he does a great Rembrandt, but Irene Jacob spots it as a fake, which both infuriates and attracts him...a murder occurs and the pursuit is on, with him trying to clear his name and trying to become a "real" artist...Patric is a little too brooding and pouty, making him hard to like for much of the film (C. Sheen or J. Depp could make him a much more sympathetic "bad" boy), but beautiful location work (widescreen, too -- I saw the laserdisc -- on video it's probably a mess) and the lovely & talented Ms. Jacob make it a surprisingly unique experience...check it out.