Synopsis: Based very loosely on Robert Ludlum's novel, the Bourne Identity is the story of a man whose wounded body is discovered by fisherman who nurse him back to health. He can remember nothing and begins to try to rebuild his memory based on clues such as the Swiss bank account, the number of which, is implanted in his hip. He soon realizes that he is being hunted and takes off with Marie on a search to find out who he is and why he is being hunted.

Now for the Zone's Eye View:

By Laura Alber

Director: Doug Liman

Cast:Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

A decent enough spy flick, but certainly not up to par with all the hype. I even viewed this twice, just to make sure of my opinion. First of all, Matt Damon as a spy - first mistake. Then we move on to the "guts" of the film, which had so many holes in it, the editing room must be a wreck! They ran so far over budget and over time, that they just started cutting away, problem is - they cut too much. We are left with way to many unanswered questions and a deep feeling of … "huh?" By the end of the movie on my second time around, I realized why I such a disdain for The Bourne Identity. It was too similar to "Ronin" with Robert De Niro. The whole look and feel of the film was like a carbon copy. One major flaw - "Ronin" was extremely intriguing, exciting and had believable spies. The casting of Robert De Niro in "Ronin" and Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity" should speak for itself. Come on, Will Hunting a "super spy"?

The Bourne Identity begins exciting enough with Jason Bourne floating in the ocean. He is found by a fishing boat crew who nurse him back to health, except for one small problem, Bourne now has amnesia. The fishing boat's "doctor" removed two bullets from Bourne's back and an implant from his hip. The implant, when activated, projects a Swiss bank account number. This is the only thing Jason has to go on to find out who he is. Once docked, he makes his way to Switzerland by train (without ID I might add) and manages to walk into the Geneva bank and retrieve his high security lock box. (Again, with no ID, just by writing the numbered account on a blank piece of paper.) You can see already why I say there are too many holes. 

After a chase by the cops and Bourne's realization that he's definitely involved in something big, both with his reflexive fighting ability and the contents of the lock box, Bourne talks Marie (Franka Potente "Run Lola Run") a stranger into giving him a ride to Paris. He found an address on one of the six passports in the box and assumes he lives in Paris. He agrees to pay Marie $20,000 for the ride, only she doesn't realize what she's about to get herself mixed up in. The two are on the run the entire movie. The person responsible for the manhunt is Bourne's boss CIA officer Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper). It seems Bourne failed his mission which is why he was "supposedly" dead, but once Conklin found out different, he needed to cover his tracks. It was a definite pleasure to see Chris Cooper, unfortunately he was given some very cheesy dialogue to work with. He's a much better actor than director Doug Liman gives him credit for. That's made obvious by the over the top character they made him into. Another wasted actor was Julia Stiles. She probably has ten minutes screen time total. I have a feeling her character was much more profound in the original script, but too bad for Stiles, seems she was left on the cutting room floor as well. Although Franka Potente was superb in "Run Lola Run", just as with Cooper and Stiles, her performance was wasted and overshadowed by the new spy-boy, Damon. 

The Bourne Identity was entertaining at best, especially when there's nothing better on cable. Don't expect too much though, or give Damon too much credit. If you watch closely, you can see in every dramatic fight scene that it's Damon's double doing all the work. It's a shame Liman couldn't handle such a blockbuster the way he did with "Go", in which he did a beautiful job with the cast, script and the filming. Sadly, the Zone rates The Bourne Identity with a 4 out of 10. My suggestion - rent "Ronin" instead! 
"The Bourne Identity" is presented by Universal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a good transfer considering the difficult cinematography that went into the filming. The sound is presented in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. The audio quality has a dynamic presentation of the sound effects and a rich, powerful score. 

DVD Extras: 

-Commentary: This is a commentary from director Doug Liman who provides a great full-length track that remains consistently informative. Liman goes through details about several categories, sharing insightful comments on casting, trying to adapt the book, technical comments, location shooting and production stories. 

-Alternate Ending: Not even worth watching. You might think you've just walked right into a chick flick with this ending!

-Deleted Scenes: Four deleted scenes are presented with no optional commentary. None of these scenes seemed to help give any added benefit to the film, in fact, they were quite boring. There is also a scene on the "Special Features" menu of an extended farmhouse sequence that's not of much use.

-Also Included: A 14-minute promotional featurette, Moby's "Extreme Ways" video, the film's trailer, bios, production notes and Total Axess DVD-ROM features. Nothing too exciting in any of these features.