Themes: Serial Killers, Murder Investigations, Death Row
Main Cast: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Alfred Molina, Clea Duvall
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Ten strangers are brought together during a weather emergency, only to discover a far greater danger awaits them in this suspense-drama. A sudden rainstorm in a remote desert town strands a disparate variety of people at a rundown motel. A convict sentenced to death, Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince), is stuck in transit with his lawyer (Alfred Molina). Ginny and Lou (Clea DuVall and William Lee Scott) are a not-especially-happy pair of young marrieds on their honeymoon. Ed (John Cusack) is a bright and resourceful chauffeur working for actress Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca De Mornay). George York (John C. McGinley) is a concerned husband trying to find help for his wife (Leila Kenzle, who was struck by Caroline's limo. Paris (Amanda Peet) is a prostitute who wants to move on to a better life. And Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is a police detective who has in his custody Robert Maine (Jake Busey), a dangerous and deranged criminal. As the rain pours down and motel manager Larry (John Hawkes) tries to care for his customers, one by one the unexpected guests begin losing their lives at the hands of a murderer. As the body count mounts, the stranded travelers struggle to find out who the killer is; however, they also learn each of them has a secret, and that their arrival at the motel has not been a matter of mere chance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
There's a moment after one of the bigger of Identity's many twists, in which it seems as if the writers have dropped the ball, throwing in a cheap cop-out in lieu of an actual payoff. Luckily, a moment later, one begins to think that the development was more clever than cheap, and simply completely unexpected rather than a cop-out. By the end, after all is said and done, Identity proves itself to be one of the most original and fun thrillers in years. Writers James Mangold and Michael Cooney have crafted a script that is a smart blend of the old-fashioned whodunit and the modern B-slasher film. The execution of the resulting premise of a group of people mysteriously landing at the same motel, finding themselves killed off one-by-one is enough to make the film a winner. But as the story unfolds, it reveals itself to hold even more than meets the eye. As a director, Mangold lends the film an unsettling atmosphere that is half familiarity and half enigma. In addition, the ensemble cast is top-notch, pulling off characters that could have easily come across overly exaggerated and campy if handled incorrectly. Of course not everyone will stick it out past the aforementioned big twist, as some viewers will surely choose to pick apart some of the finer, peripheral details rather than suspend their disbelief a little. But for those who allow themselves to enjoy it for what it is, a refreshingly imaginative film that giddily toys with genres and audience expectations, Identity is sure to please. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
John C. McGinley - George; William Lee Scott - Lou; Jake Busey - Robert Maine; Pruitt Taylor Vince - Malcolm Rivers; Rebecca De Mornay - Caroline Suzanne; Carmen Argenziano - Defense Lawyer; Marshall Bell - District Attorney; Leila Kenzle - Alice York; Matt Letscher - Assistant District Attorney; Bret Loehr - Timothy York; Holmes Osborne - Judge; Frederick Coffin - Detective Varole; Joe Hart - Bailiff Jenkins; Stuart M. Besser - Frozen Body; Terence Bernie Hines - Bailiff; Michael Hirsch - Naked Businessman
Credit
Jess Gonchor - Art Director, Dixie J. Capp - Associate Producer, Lisa Beach - Casting, Sarah Katzman - Casting, Arianne Phillips - Costume Designer, Nick Mastandrea - First Assistant Director, James Mangold - Director, David Brenner - Editor, Stuart M. Besser - Executive Producer, Alan Silvestri - Composer (Music Score), Mark Friedberg - Production Designer, Phedon Papamichael - Cinematographer, Cathy Konrad - Producer, Cindy Carr - Set Designer, Victoria Ruskin - Set Designer, Oana Bogdan - Set Designer, Jim Stuebe - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Cooney - Screenwriter
"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth."
- Alan W. Watts
"I'm not Jack Nicholson. I'm not Brando. But I do mumble."
- Benicio Del Toro
"The minute you or anybody else knows what you are you are not it, you are what you or anybody else knows you are and as everything in living is made up of finding out what you are it is extraordinarily difficult really not to know what you are and yet to be that thing."
- Gertrude Stein
"Identity is a bag and a gag. Yet it exists for me with all the force of a fatal disease. Obviously I am here, a mind and a body. To say there's no proof my body exists would be arty and specious and if my mind is more ephemeral, less provable, the solution of being a writer with solid (touchable, tearable, burnable) books is as close as anyone has come to a perfect answer."
- Judith Rossner
Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is a psychotic killer awaiting execution for several vicious murders that took place at a motel. His psychiatrist, Doctor Malick (Alfred Molina), has discovered a journal belonging to Rivers that may explain why he really committed the murders. With this late evidence brought forth, a new hearing takes place on a stormy night in which Malick will try to persuade the Judge to spare Rivers. Meanwhile, a group of ten strangers, through a number of circumstances, find themselves stranded in the middle of the storm in a remote motel in the Nevada desert. With the phone lines down due to the storm, the group prepare to spend the night, taking care of those that have been injured through their arrival. However, the group quickly finds that there is an unknown murderer present, killing off each of the guests and leaving behind one of the motel's room keys to be found, starting with Room 10's key and counting down.
At the hearing, the contents of Malcolm's journal are revealed, indicating the prisoner suffers from an extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorder, harboring ten distinct personalities. Malick is able to bring forth one of Malcolm's personalities, Ed (John Cusack), revealing that events at the motel are occurring inside Malcolm's mind, each personality being a distinct person though all sharing the same birth date. After hearing of events in the motel, Malick informs the Ed personality that he must find and eliminate the hostile personality in order to prevent Malcolm from being executed lest all the personalities be killed off. In the motel setting, as the group is dwindled down, Ed believes that the personality of Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is the murderer, and sacrifices himself to kill Rhodes, leaving only Paris (Amanda Peet) alive. When Malick demonstrates that that homicidal personality is dead, the Judge decides to place Malcolm in a mental institution under Malick's care.
As Malcolm is driven along with Malick to the institution, in Malcolm's mind, Paris has driven away from the motel to her hometown in Florida. As she tends an orange grove, she discovers the Room 1 motel key in the ground, and turns around to find the young Timmy standing behind her. Timmy, the true homicidal personality, had orchestrated all the deaths at the motel, and made it appear that he had been killed as well; he finishes his task by killing Paris, reciting Hughes Mearns's Antigonish. Now driven only by Timmy, Malcolm strangles Malick, and the transport truck runs off the side of the road.
Cast
The personalities include
John Cusack as Ed Dakota, a limousine driver and a former police officer who is instructed by Rivers to kill the homicidal personality of Rivers.
Ray Liotta as Rhodes, a police officer, but in reality a convict that, along with Robert Maine, overpowered the officer transporting them to prison, and took his clothes to pose as the officer with Robert as his prisoner.
Jake Busey as Robert Maine, a serial killer and convict
Leila Kenzle as Alice York, George's wife. Alice is severely injured when she is run over accidentally by Ed while George attempted to change the tire on their car, and
Bret Loehr as Timmy York, Alice's son (and George's stepson). Timmy is eventually revealed as the homicidal personality in Malcolm's mind despite his quiet demeanor.
Rebecca De Mornay as Caroline Suzanne, a Hollywood actress that is chauffeured by Ed.
