‘The Bourne Identity’ an engaging spy thriller

loading...

In theaters

THE BOURNE IDENTITY, directed by Doug Liman, written by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron, based on Robert Ludlum’s novel. 113 minutes. PG-13.

What gives Doug Liman’s new thriller, “The Bourne Identity,” such a nostalgic kick, is that it retains a whiff of the 1980s, a time when the espionage novel flourished and popular culture reinforced the idea that the CIA was far more sophisticated than recent events have revealed it to be.

The film, which Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron adapted from the 1980 best seller by Robert Ludlum, wisely pulls in the reins on the author’s iron-horse prose and updates the gadgetry without sacrificing the mood, which is at times hysterical and at other times, well, hysterical.

Liman, who directed “Swingers” and “Go,” does his job well, reducing the world to the size of a postage stamp while focusing on a group of gun-toting characters hopping between Zurich and Paris as if they were zipping between Milo and Meddybemps. After “The Sum of All Fears,” a disappointment that looked ridiculous in the face of real life, “The Bourne Identity” offers thrills that share nothing with current events and, better yet, never once wish to be timely.

It’s no antique, but there’s also no mistaking that its considerable spirit is inspired by the past – which, as these things go, turns out to be a gift.

In the film, Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, an amnesiac spy with bullet holes in his back and a computerized capsule implanted in his hip who’s pulled from the rain-swept waters of the Mediterranean by a fisherman. Without any knowledge of who he is or how he nearly became fish bait, Bourne, driven almost purely by instincts he can’t fully grasp, launches into action in an effort to learn his identity.

Using his only clue – the Swiss bank account number hidden within the capsule – he slips into Zurich, steals into one of its banks and sifts through a safe-deposit box, in which are stacks of cash, a loaded gun and several passports.

The problem? While each passport bears his photo, each also bears a different identity beneath the image.

Bourne’s more pressing concern? The CIA has been alerted to his presence and has unleashed its agents en masse to do away with him.

The 90-minute chase that ensues plays mostly by the rules, but since it pairs Bourne with Franka Potente, the terrific German actress who starred in the must-see thriller “Run Lola Run,” that chase is more fun, imaginative, sexy and diverting than it likely would have been otherwise.

With Chris Cooper as the lead CIA agent out to get Bourne, and Julia Stiles and Clive Owen both adding star power to slight, throwaway roles, “The Bourne Identity” is so engaging, it might start its own cinematic religion – and be born again in Ludlum’s two sequels, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

Grade: B+

On video and DVD

ROLLERBALL, directed by John McTiernan, written by Larry Ferguson and John Pogue. 98 minutes. Rated PG-13.

John McTiernan’s “Rollerball” is one of those movies you never quite forget – which is why, I suppose, we have psychotherapy, mood-enhancing prescription drugs and neighborhood bars to help us cope.

Based on the 1975 original starring James Caan and Maud Adams, this new version is determined to overlook everything that made its inspiration so prescient. Instead of exploring why pop culture is fascinated with extreme sports, it only exploits the violence and the blood within the sport.

Instead of focusing on how these sports are shaped and fueled by major corporations, it overlooks their influence in favor of featuring a string of head-banging heavy-metal riffs.

The film stars Chris Klein as Jonathan, a fresh-faced kid from San Francisco who leaves his meaningless life in the States to become a meaningless sports star in Kazakhstan, a post-communist bloc country absolutely certain its ticket to free trade rests with the game of Rollerball – which, for the uninitiated, is a wild cross between motocross, lacrosse, Roller Derby, polo and Word Wrestling Entertainment.

Running the show in Kazakhstan is the evil Petrovich (Jean Reno), a mustache-twirling, nouveau-capitalist with a perpetual sneer who’s determined to turn Rollerball into a smash success. The problem for Petrovich? None of his players is willing to sacrifice their lives for a spike in ratings without first putting up a fight of their own. Go figure.

With LL Cool J as an accountant-turned-Rollerball superstar and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as a Russian minx whose performance suggests she worked for scale and a case of Stoli, “Rollerball” has the unique distinction of making “Roller Boogie” come off like the king of all roller movies.

Grade: F

Christopher Smith’s reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

THE VIDEO-DVD CORNER

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

I Am Sam ? C

The Majestic ? D-

Max Keeble’s Big Move ? B

Orange County ? C-

The Shipping News ? C

Rollerball ? F

Black Hawk Down ? B

Kate & Leopold ? C+

Monster’s Ball ? A

The Mothman Prophecies ? C

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ? B 3/4

Sidewalks of New York ? B-

Lantana ? A

Vanilla Sky ? B+

Corky Romano ? D-

From Hell ? C

The Others ? B+

Snow Dogs ? B-

Ocean’s Eleven ? B

Waking Life ? A

Ali ? B+

Not Another Teen Movie ? C-

Behind Enemy Lines ? C-

No Man’s Land ? A

Black Knight ? F

The Deep End ? A

Domestic Disturbance ? C

The Man Who Wasn’t There ? B+

Mulholland Drive ? A

Spy Game ? C+

Bandits ? D

13 Ghosts ? F

Donnie Darko ? B

K-Pax ? B-

Life as a House ? C

Original Sin ? F

Our Lady of the Assassins ? B+

Riding in Cars with Boys ? B-

Training Day ? B-

Heist ? B+

Joy Ride ? B+

Zoolander ? C-

A.I. ? B-

The Last Castle ? C-

Sexy Beast ? B+

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ? F

The Musketeer ? D-

The Taste of Others ? A-

Don’t Say a Word ? C-

Hardball ? C+

O ? B+

Hearts in Atlantis ? B

Life Without Dick ? D

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ? D

Ghost World ? A

Lost & Delirious ? C-

Atlantis: The Lost Empire ? C

American Pie 2 ? C+