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Identity (Blu-Ray)

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Cast:

John Cusack

Ray Liotta

Amanda Peet

Rebecca DeMornay

Region:

Region B / Region Free

Director:

James Mangold

Certificate:

Picture:

1080p High Definition

16x9 Widescreen Version

Sound:

5.1 PCM Audio

5.1 Dolby Digital Surround

Running Time:

90 Minutes

Special Features:

1080p High Definition

5.1 PCM and Dolby Surround Sound

Audio Commentary with Director

Audio Commentary with Writer

Interactive Menus

On Set Featurette

Special Feature Rating:

The Story:

What if every choice we ever make was already made for us? What if there really were no coincidences in life and our destinies were already predetermined? Ten strangers with secrets are brought together in a savage rainstorm: A limo driver (John Cusack), an '80s TV star (Rebecca DeMornay), a cop (Ray Liotta) who is transporting a killer (Jake Busey), a call girl (Amanda Peet), a pair of newlyweds(Clea DuVall and William Lee Scott) and a family in crisis (John C. McGinley, Leila Kenzle, Bret Loehr), all take shelter at a desolate motel run by a nervous night manager (John Hawkes). Relief in finding shelter is quickly replaced with fear as the ten travelers begin to die, one by one. They soon realize that, if they are to survive, they'll have to uncover the secret that has brought them alltogether...

Here's a Hollywood thriller with a very capable cast, a devious script juggling a host of characters, and top level studio production values, all of which combine to launch a big twist about two-thirds through. But initial admiration soon fades into a feeling of emptiness. Michael Cooney's bustling screenplay is obviously inspired by Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, as disparate travellers converge at a remote motel on a stormy night, only to find their number whittled away one by one. Among the increasingly fearful flotsam, limo driver Cusack, fugitive call girl Peet and hassled cop Liotta seem likely to survive longest in the face of the escalating body count. There are things to enjoy. Cusack is all nuts and bolts professionalism, as he delivers screeds of deftly disguised exposition. Spirited direction milks the isolated tumbledown setting for copper-bottomed suspense and almost masks the mechanical aspect of one inventively grisly demise following another. The scheming narrative ably marshals teasing red herrings and diversionary ruses before hitting us with a doozy of a reversal.

Story Rating:

The Picture:

Gorgeous image quality on this MPEG-4 AVC Blu-ray transfer from Sony. The film is very dark throughout most scenes and the 1080P resolution supports the contrast details exceptionally well. This is one of the better film images I have seen in the new formats. Dual-layered and the transfer is tight, clean and shows some remarkable detail at times.

Picture Rating:

The Sound:

There is an excellent uncompressed PCM 5.1 track included as an option with a standard 5.1 and some DUBs (note one of the German options gives an uncompressed PCM option as well). There are significant background sounds (it is raining through most of the film) so the separated audio presentation greatly benefits. The action and gore are fairly limited and the subtle use of jumpy sound cues helps the suspense-driven narrative. Dialogue was clear throughout and I didn't have to touch the volume control once.

Sound Rating:

Overall:

Overall Rating:

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