Analysis
Created from the 1980 Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, The Bourne Identity follows the story of a young man who is pulled from the Meditteranean sea by a group of passing fishermen only to discover that he has absolutly no recolection as to the meaning of his pridicament. Not only does he not remember how or why he was adrift at sea, but even his own name escapes his consciousness and the discovery of two fresh bullet holes in his back only increases the mystery. We are then taken on a journey of discovery that takes our mystery man into the dark and silent worod of the CIA.

Doug Liman of 'Go' fame handled the direction of this style cocktail, that melds action with drama and stirs in a little bit of a thriller as well. Liman is relativley new to the business, only having directed around four films uptill this one, so just how well did he fair? Well not half bad to be honest. The story wasn't all that original with a number of movies already covering the 'I've lost my memory, who the F*** am I' type story, but it was the execution that made this more than just another wannabe. The characters were beliverble and the perilous situations that they found themselves in actually left me caring about what their fait would be. The action scenes were excellent with special mention going to the mini chase around the streets of Paris that gave more than a passing nod in the direction of 'The Italian Job'.

Matt Damon impressed me as the lost sole who fights for the recovery of his identity. You couldn't take fresh faced Damon seriously if he was to play an all out action hero (except maybe James Bond but nationality could be a problem), but in roles like this and the one he took in 'Oceans Eleven', where a balance of solid plot and high impact action are required, he always manages to pull of a great performance. It was nice to see British boy Clive Owen show his face with the word on the street being that this man can do no wrong. Expect to see him holding more leading roles in up coming movies even if he was a little underused this time around.

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action
Thrills/ Tension
Violence/ Gore
Bare Flesh	NONE	Matt looks too young to know anything about the ladies. Maybe when his voice breaks.
Plot		Not the most inspired story but still strong enough to keep you watching until the final credits. Unlike other films of this type, you don't have to be glued to the screen to ensure you don't miss out on any one of the hundreds of plot twists that seem to be all the rage. Easy listening for the eye's.

Verdict