THE BOURNE IDENTITY

To use a metaphor that will be completely irrelevant to everything that follows, sometimes a cookie-cutter product can be totally satisfying if a cookie was desired in the first place.

Similarly, if somebody is in the mood for a straight-ahead espionage/chase thriller, THE BOURNE IDENTITY fills the bill on all levels. It's got plenty of mystery (starting with the one hinted at in the title), lots of action, several cities full of exotic-to-Americans scenery, a likable hero, a bit of romance and the faintest whiff of existential philosophy. If this sounds interchangeable with lots of other big-studio spy movies, it's because BOURNE follows the formula at every turn but it does it with such skill and enthusiasm that it's worth seeing for anyone who enjoys the genre.

A fishing trawler fishes a body out of the open ocean during a terrible storm. Amazingly, the fellow (Matt Damon) is alive and returns to consciousness, despite nearly drowning and having two bullet holes in his back. The stranger has command of any number of languages and abilities including a knack for incapacitating anyone who startles him in seconds flat but he has no idea who he is, much less what happened to him. A Swiss bank account number embedded in his body eventually leads the young man to a Zurich safety deposit box full of cash and passports in different names, all with his photo. Settling on the American-in-Paris identity of Jason Bourne, the amnesiac arrives at the American Embassy hoping to find help. Instead, he finds himself dodging armed guards. Bourne escapes with the help of footloose, cautiously friendly Marie (Franka Potente), who agrees to drive him to France for $20,000.

Matt Damon stars with Franka Potente in THE BOURNE IDENTITY.

© 2002 Universal Pictures

What we know that our pair don't is that Bourne is a CIA black ops agent, presumed dead after botching the assassination of an African leader several weeks back. Bourne's Agency handlers are going ballistic, hoping to clean up their mess (i.e., kill the perceived rogue agent) before everything hits the fan.

Based on a Robert Ludlum novel, THE BOURNE IDENTITY was previously adapted as a TV miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith. It's a pretty safe guess that a four-hour version didn't have the whip-along pace set by director Doug Liman. The script by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron has its share of grace notes, but even these are caught on the fly when Marie talks about herself, for example, we're in a moving car. Liman has some great, punchy action sequences, though sometimes he's a little too speedy for his own good. In the opening sequence, the editing is so confusing that we understand the fishermen saw Bourne move (proving he's alive) because logic indicates this is what happened, not because we're allowed to comprehend the dramatic moment ourselves. On the flip side, Liman stages some hell-for-leather segments, including a few effective shocks.

The film treads rather lightly on the central issue of identity. Bourne as we know him is highly sympathetic, someone who wants to do the right thing, while the picture we get of his past is of a frightening guy. However, the storytelling is so breathless that the juxtaposition of the two personas doesn't have a great deal of impact it's an interesting footnote rather than the plot fulcrum.

Damon is highly persuasive as the confused, driven protagonist and Potente is extremely charming as his slightly scared, good-hearted fellow fugitive. Chris Cooper has wonderful steeliness as Bourne's worried, angry senior officer and Brian Cox has an outward smoothness that reveals the wheels turning within as a fellow CIA official. The pair drolly underplay some swell dialogue exchanges ("Are you asking me a direct question?" Cooper's character frets when Cox inquires about the assassination attempt. "Yes." "I thought you were never gonna do that," Cooper grouses.) The excellent Clive Owen and Julia Stiles turn up effectively in small roles.

There isn't anything in THE BOURNE IDENTITY that spy movie devotees haven't experienced before, but the film delivers the goods with fidelity to the letter and the spirit of the form.