Identity (2003)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

James Mangold

Writer (WGA):

Michael Cooney (written by)

Release Date:

25 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The secret lies within.

Plot:

Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rainstorm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.

Plot Keywords:

Motel | Nevada | Rainstorm | Murder | Convict

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	Ed
Ray Liotta	...	Rhodes
Amanda Peet	...	Paris
John Hawkes	...	Larry
Alfred Molina	...	Dr. Malick
Clea DuVall	...	Ginny
John C. McGinley	...	George York
William Lee Scott	...	Lou
Jake Busey	...	Robert Maine
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Malcolm Rivers
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Caroline Suzanne (as Rebecca DeMornay)
Carmen Argenziano	...	Defense Lawyer
Marshall Bell	...	District Attorney
Leila Kenzle	...	Alice York
Matt Letscher	...	Assistant District Attorney
Bret Loehr	...	Timmy York
Holmes Osborne	...	Judge Taylor
Frederick Coffin	...	Detective Varole
Joe Hart	...	Bailiff Jenkins
Michael Hirsch	...	Naked Businessman
Terence Bernie Hines	...	Bailiff
Stuart M. Besser	...	Frozen Body (as Stuart Besser)

Directed by
James Mangold

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Cooney		(written by)

Produced by
Stuart M. Besser	....	executive producer (as Stuart Besser)
Dixie J. Capp	....	associate producer
Cathy Konrad	....	producer

Original Music by
Alan Silvestri

Cinematography by
Phedon Papamichael

Film Editing by
David Brenner

Casting by
Lisa Beach
Sarah Katzman

Production Design by
Mark Friedberg

Art Direction by
Jess Gonchor

Set Decoration by
Cindy Carr

Costume Design by
Arianne Phillips

Makeup Department
Catherine Childers	....	hair stylist
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup department head
Jane Galli	....	makeup department head
Jake Garber	....	special makeup effects artist
Jonathan Hanousek	....	hair stylist supervisor
Katharine Kremp	....	hair stylist: Mr. Liotta
Katharine Kremp	....	key hair stylist
Robert Kurtzman	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Judy Lovell	....	key makeup artist
Gregory Nicotero	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Nanci Cascio	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
John Anthony	....	production supervisor
Stuart M. Besser	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rick Avery	....	second unit director
Rosemary C. Cremona	....	second assistant director (as Rosemary Cremona)
Maria Mantia	....	second second assistant director
Nicholas Mastandrea	....	first assistant director (as Nick Mastandrea)

Art Department
Ron Ashmore	....	paint supervisor
Oana Bogdan	....	set designer
Sam Dean	....	welder
Alex DiGerlando	....	art department assistant
Christopher Elledge	....	set dresser
Josh Ian Elliott	....	on-set dresser (as Josh Elliott)
Steve A. Hagberg	....	construction coordinator
Sarah Harwich	....	construction purchaser
Bart C. Hubenthal	....	set dresser
Alan James	....	painter
John Paul 'J.P.' Jones	....	property master
Miguel López-Castillo	....	assistant art director
Michael McCombe	....	greens foreman
Marc Messenger	....	storyboard artist
Chris Nakayama	....	propmaker
Victoria Ruskin	....	set designer
Rick C. Taplin	....	art department assistant
Freddy Waff	....	lead man
Cheree Welsh	....	art department coordinator
Perry E. Ellis	....	set dresser (uncredited)
John P. Goldsmith	....	set designer (uncredited)
Amber Haley	....	set buyer (uncredited)
J. Bryan Holloway	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jessy Bender	....	sound utility
Joseph Bonn	....	first assistant sound editor
Gary C. Bourgeois	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Gary Bourgeois)
Matthew Dettmann	....	foley artist
John Dunn	....	sound editor
Donald Flick	....	sound editor
Howell Gibbens	....	supervising sound effects editor
Matthew P. Hanson	....	assistant sound editor (as Matthew Hanson)
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist
Larry Kemp	....	sound editor
Sean Landeros	....	sound recordist
Howard London	....	adr mixer
James Morioka	....	sound effects editor
Greg Orloff	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ken Strain	....	boom operator
Jim Stuebe	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Ron Bolanowski	....	special effects coordinator
Chiz Hasegawa	....	coordinator: KNB EFX Group
William D. Lee	....	special effects
Ian C. McArthur	....	special effects technician
Matt McDonnell	....	special effects technician
Gregory Nicotero	....	puppeteer
Richard Stutsman	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
David Ebner	....	digital effects supervisor: Computercafe
Julia Frey	....	visual effects producer
Vicki Galloway-Weimer	....	visual effects producer: CafeFX (as Vicki Galloway Weimer)
Anthony Harris	....	digital color timer
Bruce Harris	....	digital compositor
Robert Stromberg	....	visual effects supervisor: Digital Backlot
Patrick Zentis	....	compositing supervisor: Digital Backlot
Jeff Barnes	....	executive producer: Computercafe (uncredited)
Attila Veress	....	film recorder operator (uncredited)

Stunts
Brian Avery	....	utility stunts
Rick Avery	....	stunt coordinator
Tom Harper	....	stunts
Brett A. Jones	....	stunts
Brian Machleit	....	stunts
Caryn Mower	....	stunt double: Leila Kenzle
Eric Norris	....	stunts
Michelle Sebek	....	stunt double
Brian Simpson	....	stunts
Darlene Ava Williams	....	stunt double: Rebecca DeMornay

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Andrus	....	grip
Brad Boyer	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Craig A. Brink	....	rigging gaffer
Eric M. Davis	....	lighting technician
Sean Devine	....	best boy grip
Christopher Franey	....	set lighting technician
Cory Geryak	....	chief lighting technician
Bob Hall	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Ryan Huston	....	electrician
David Luckenbach	....	Steadicam operator
David Luckenbach	....	camera operator
Daniel C. McFadden	....	assistant camera
Andrew Osborne	....	assistant camera
Paul Sanchez	....	camera operator
Philip Shanahan	....	assistant camera
Matthew J. Siegel	....	camera operator: second unit
Dan Squires	....	additional second assistant camera
Larry Sushinski	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Suzanne Tenner	....	still photographer
Brian Woronec	....	lighting technician
David Schmalz	....	video assist operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jennifer Bender	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Terry Anderson	....	key costumer
Lorraine Crossman	....	costumer
Carlane Passman	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Sara Cueva	....	apprentice editor
Quincy Z. Gunderson	....	assistant editor
Dale Jones	....	avid technician
Michael McCusker	....	associate editor
Jim Passon	....	color timer
Michael Rafferty	....	assistant editor
David Reale	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Bill Abbott	....	music editor: temp music (as William Abbott)
David Bifano	....	scoring coordinator
Sandy DeCrescent	....	orchestra contractor
Mark Eshelman	....	scoring crew
Kenneth Karman	....	music editor
Jason Lloyd	....	scoring crew
Adam Michalak	....	score recordist
Bill Pearson	....	music engineer
John Rodd	....	orchestral scoring recordist
Dennis S. Sands	....	music scoring mixer
Alan Silvestri	....	conductor
Steven L. Smith	....	music preparation
Jacqueline Tager	....	assistant music editor
Pat Weber	....	scoring technician
Mark Graham	....	music copyist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
J. Armin Garza II	....	driver: camera car
Dan Marrow	....	transportation coordinator
Pamela Monroe	....	transportation office coordinator
John Embry	....	driver: cast (uncredited)

Other crew
Benjamin Adams	....	production accountant
Olivier Agostini	....	set production assistant
Ricky Andres	....	production assistant
Bianca Arvin	....	assistant to producer
Barry Barclay	....	assistant production office coordinator
Michael Boretz	....	production secretary
Michele A. Carmel	....	production coordinator
Rupert Cole	....	production assistant
Kyle Cooper	....	title designer
Jason Cox	....	production assistant
Chad Hammel	....	production assistant
Bruce Kaye	....	assistant: Mr. Mangold
Gary Kurashige	....	on-set medic
Aurelie Levy	....	assistant: John Cusack
Andrew Lipschultz	....	unit publicist
Brian MacAslan	....	stand-in
Lindsay McCracken	....	assistant: Mr. Cusack
Jeremy Mullen	....	set production assistant
Nikolette Orlandou	....	production assistant
Jennifer Priebe	....	production assistant
Ned R. Shapiro	....	location manager
Shannon Shea	....	shop foreman
Sheila Waldron	....	script supervisor
Chris Castaldi	....	additional set production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Konrad Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista International (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Italia (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Nordisk Film Distributors (2003) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Nelonen (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• RTL Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD) (VHS)

Special Effects

• CIS Hollywood (additional visual effects)
• Computer Cafe, The (additional visual effects) (as Computercafe)
• Digital Backlot (visual effects)
• K.N.B. Effects Group (special makeup effects)
• Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies
• FotoKem Laboratory  color timing (as Foto-Kem)
• Imaginary Forces  main and end titles
• Mary Nelson-Fraser & Associates  negative cutting
• Post Logic Studios  digital film mastering
• R!ot  film scanning and recording (as Riot Pictures)
• Rods & Cones  digital opticals
• Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI)  digital color timing
• Sony Pictures Studios  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

I.D. (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

90 min | USA:91 min (alternate DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:18A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | India:A | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38872)

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

'Brett Loehr' gets only one line of dialogue in the whole film. And even then, some of it is spoken first by Pruitt Taylor Vince.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the end of the movie they are supposed to be in Frostproof, Fl, but as the camera pans back there are mountains in the background of the orange grove. The shot looks a whole lot more like California, and not Florida.

Quotes:

Paris: Where in Florida Larry? Where in Florida?
Larry: Polk County.
Paris: That's where I was born. Which town?
Larry: Mulberry.
Paris: [points to herself] Frostproof.
Larry: No wonder you left.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Big Fish (2003)

Soundtrack:

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Who Are You? Who who, Who who

Because of what seem to be unusual circumstances, eleven people, strangers to each other outside of their respective "groups" (two families, two professional associations), end up stranded in a desolate Nevada motel on a dark, stormy night. One of the "strangers" is a death row murderer being escorted to another prison for execution. When bodies start turning up and the murderer goes missing, he's the obvious suspect. But things are not what they seem. Identity provides a "double mystery"--a traditional whodunit and an increasingly bizarre "rubber reality" mystery that we must figure out along with the characters.

This is my second viewing of Identity. I didn't like it quite as much this time, although it still earned a "B". The two aspects I had a slight problem with on the second go-round were one, the plot didn't quite envelop me to the same extent (maybe because I remembered the twist?) and two, since first watching it, I've seen a lot more films in the rubber reality genre, and Identity is nowhere near as mind-bending as many other examples. Still, this is a great film, with a lot of assets.

Director James Mangold effectively employs a number of interesting techniques here. The main standout in the first reel is the use of Tarantino-like "multiple viewpoint" shots, where we see the same span of time from one character's point of view, then another, then another. He also effectively creates two very attractive atmospheres, especially for fantasy fans--a "Twilight Zone"(1959)-like conundrum and a sustained dark ambiance. The Twilight Zone aspect makes itself most obvious beginning with the scene where the convict, Robert Maine (Jake Busey), tries to flee, but discovers that he's still at the motel, after all. The constant, Blade Runner (1982)-like rain underscores the dark ambiance, which is reminiscent of films such as Fallen (1998) and Se7en (1995).

While Identity isn't exactly a bastion of graphic violence, there are a number of strongly visceral scenes and shots that are extremely well done and effective for seeming realistic. The atmosphere is also greatly enhanced by the hotel set, which matches the Bates Motel from Psycho (1960) in dingy gloom. The film also has a wonderfully nihilistic ending.

Even though I wasn't as enraptured in suspense this time, one is still drawn into the film by the gradual quickening and spiraling of loss of control experienced by the characters. While slowly killing each one of them off as they're stuck in an isolated setting is a traditional "10 Little Indians" horror film motif that writer Michael Cooney employs, the Twilight Zone aspects allow him to trump the sense of horror and despair, as the surviving characters come to realize that they are not in charge of their own lives, they can't call the shots, and their illusions about their realities crumble before their eyes.

One of the negatives is that the rubber reality resolution is a bit too telegraphed, too overt. The solution is given too early, and ends up being spelled out note-for-note. It's a bit like giving a lecture on a joke right after one gives the punch line. It might be difficult to blame either Cooney or Mangold with this, however, as American film studios and test audiences are notoriously allergic to ambiguity, which is depressing, because I love ambiguity in films. Still, maybe the Identity is just easier to figure out when you've seen tens of rubber reality flicks. When I watched the film upon its theatrical release, I overheard more than one fellow theater-goer still trying to figure out the gist as the lights came up.

One might be tempted to claim that Mangold under-uses his fine cast--who all turn in excellent performances, including one of my favorite character actors, John C. McGinley. But on the other hand, it makes sense that there is this large number and broad range of characters. Under this scenario, you either under-use them or you've got a 3-hour-plus film (not that I'd complain about a 3-hour-plus film).

Of course the theme of the film, as well as all of the subtexts, has to do with personal identity, and especially veiled personal identity. None of the characters are who they seem. Most of them are lying to each other in some way when they first meet, and even some of the ones who know each other already are also lying to each other. Cooney and Mangold explore the various social facts, actions, ceremonies, rituals and so on that help provide personal identity for us, such as birthdates, names, residency, marriages, benevolent versus criminal or unethical actions, and occupations. They also explore a more dynamic identity of action, as relationships continually shift throughout the film.