The Bourne Identity

A man floating in the Mediterranean Sea, is rescued by a fishing boat; it's a miracle he's survived, because he's been shot twice. He has amnesia, and the only clue to his identity is a microchip buried under his skin which contains the number of a Swiss bank account. A security box in the bank reveals various passports of different nationalities, a lot of money, and a gun. The confused man discovers that his name is Jason Bourne, that he's an American agent, and that the CIA is after him. With the help of Marie, a chance acquaintance, he travels to Paris in an attempt to solve the mystery – but there's danger everywhere.

The late Robert Ludlum's exciting book was published in 1980 and this screen adaptation is an unusually intelligent one. Avoiding the temptation to camp up the material, director Doug Liman, making his first studio picture after the excellent independent movies Swingers and Go, plays it straight, and the result is a very suspenseful, finely textured, edge-of-the-seat thriller. Matt Damon is dynamic as the resourceful hero, while Franke Potente, who, after Run Lola Run, must be used to living on her nerves, gives us a distinctly different kind of heroine. This is one of those films in which a rogue CIA operative is the main villain; after September 11, it's interesting that Hollywood can still present such a critical picture of its nation's security agency.