In a freak storm, ten people find themselves stranded at a dingy roadside motel. There’s no road out, the phones don’t work, nor the radio and it’s raining heavily. Oh yeah, and somebody’s killing them, one by one. But there’s a reason they’re all there together, but what can the connection be? And what does it have to do with a serial killer who’s about to be executed? Copland director James Mangold and a pretty decent cast want to tell us.

A few years ago, James Mangold made his name with Cop Land, a pretty decent film about police corruption that is memorable, at least, for getting a half decent performance out of Sylvester Stallone. In his following film, Girl, Interrupted he even managed to get a performance out of Angelina Jolie, (it’s true!) but to be honest whilst both films are good, neither could be said to be great. I never got round to seeing the bizarre sounding Kate and Leopold (19th century aristocrat transported to modern day New York so he can fall in love with Meg Ryan!) but when I saw the trailer for Identity, I thought I’d let Mr Mangold entertain me again. After all, I didn’t have anything better to do.

With new evidence uncovered the doctor and lawyer who are defending a convicted serial killer on grounds of insanity are allowed a final hearing. Which is lucky as the guy is scheduled to be executed in 24 hours time. Meanwhile, somewhere in Nevada we’re introduced to a bunch of stereotypes. We have two newly weds. We have one sexist, shifty looking motel owner, one sexy girl on the run with a suitcase of money, one has-been actress and her limo driver who just happens to be an ex (good) cop. Add to the mixture a real (bad) cop who’s transporting a (badder) convict in the back of his car and a family that consists of a loving, caring mother who’s just been run over, a stressed out step father and the obligatory troubled young boy who hasn’t spoken since his real father ran away.

Thanks to a storm, some floods and a series of bizarre car accidents these eleven people find themselves stranded in a roadside motel where the phones (landline and cellular) don’t work, nor does the police radio. Which is nice. So there’s no road out, there’s no way of contacting the outside world and it’s raining heavily. You know things aren’t going to go well from here. That’s right, they’re going to get killed’.one’by’one. Now there’s a surprise.

Basically, there’s a reason they’ve all ended up in the motel and they need to figure out the thing that connects them all, but obviously they need to do that before everybody gets killed. Whilst Identity plays as a regular whodunnit mystery, it’s a lot of fun. Of course when somebody says ‘Wait here. Stay together’ you know that somebody’s gonna run off on their own in order for the killer to catch them, but that’s what you want from a horror film. Imagine Halloween meets Psycho and you can pretty much figure out what direction this film’s coming from.

Unfortunately, the latter part of the movie, when we realise what it is exactly that connects these people and the soon to be executed killer together, the film starts to fall apart. The plot twist that the film hangs itself on tries to lift the film out of the Hitchcock/slasher movie world it’s created into something more lofty and intelligent but only serves to undermine the claustrophobia and twisted sense of fun that made the first two acts so enjoyable. Where the film is reaching for a Sixth Sense style revelation, it ends up almost patronising the audience, by trying to be too clever which is a shame.

Identity is far from being a great film, but it’s not that bad. Although the characters are embarrassingly one dimensional, the actors put a bit of effort into it. Having the likes of John Cusack and Ray Liotta sparring off each other can only be a good thing as far as I’m concerned and seeing Rebecca DeMournay playing a has-been actress is simply a delicious joke. For a horror fan like myself, it’s always fun to watch stupid characters do stupid things. The film is handsomely shot, with muted colours and harsh contrast lighting effects and the motel itself and the torrential, incessant rain help to build a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere. It’s just a shame how it unravels so badly at the end. All I can say is don’t rush out to see it, but wait till it hits the videostore. If you’re looking for a decent film to enjoy with a few beers on a Friday night, you could probably do worse.

Review written by: Damian

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