December 22, 2020
'The Bourne Identity'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan have forgotten everything about this podcast and must discover its true identity by rewatching 'The Bourne Identity,' starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, and Chris Cooper.
Cast
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
Franka Potente as Marie Kreutz
Chris Cooper as Alexander Conklin
Brian Cox as Ward Abbott
Clive Owen as The Professor
Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons
Directed by: Doug Liman
Written by: Tony Gilroy
Notes
- The shoot was famously troubled. There was a major rift between Liman and Universal. Tony Gilroy was faxing rewritten scenes to production in real time as Liman changed his mind. Went $8 million over budget.
- The movie was supposed to come out September 2001 – pushed to June 2002 after 9/11. Damon became the conduit between Liman and the studio after they cut off all communication.
- Liman's father was chief counsel during the Iran-Contra hearings; Chris Cooper's Conklin character was modeled on Oliver North.
- Liman and Damon seriously considered killing Jason Bourne at the end of the first film: 'No one will see that coming.' They talked themselves out of it, enabling the franchise.
- $60 million budget; grossed $214 million worldwide.
- Chris Ryan's central argument: Liman and Damon 'Trojan-horsed 'Before Sunrise' into an action movie' – merging character-driven romance with blockbuster action.
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“What is best about the movie is Damon, who is convincing as a man who has been trained to be an efficient killing machine and now, starting from the most basic question – Who am I? – has to reconstruct his entire life.”
Three stars. Ebert praised Damon's ability to be 'focused and sincere' and concluded the film was 'unnecessary but not unskilled.' Bill calls this 'the ultimate backhanded compliment.'
Most re-watchable scene
- The diner scene: 'I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside... at this altitude I can run flat out for half a mile before my hands start shaking.'
- Bourne confronting Conklin: 'I swear to God if I even feel somebody behind me, there is no measure to how fast and how hard I will bring this fight to your doorstep.'
- The Paris car chase in the tiny red Mini.
- The farmhouse sequence where Damon kills Clive Owen – Chris's pick.
What aged the best?
- Amnesia as a plot device – 'just always works.'
- The romance between Bourne and Marie, particularly the hair-dyeing scene.
- The decision not to kill Bourne at the end – enabled four sequels.
- Any action movie shot in a European country.
What aged the worst?
- Bourne's thick brown sweater – 'Nobody in their right mind would wear that in 2020.'
- The surveillance technology in the CIA crisis suite feels dated.
- The Wambosi subplot – 'the worst part of the movie... you could almost fully excise it.'
Casting what-ifs
- Brad Pitt – Liman wanted him; Pitt turned it down for Spy Game. If Pitt had done Bourne, he never meets Angelina Jolie on 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'.
- Tom Cruise passed, saying 'I'm already Ethan Hunt.'
- Russell Crowe approached but post-'Gladiator' felt too much like a 'superhero.'
- Burt Reynolds was Universal's original choice in 1983.
Over-acting award
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Wambosi – 'If they want to kill me, they better kill me the first time. They better kill me dead.'
Best "heat check" performance
- Castel, the machine-gun assassin – 'He's in for like 2 minutes' but makes a Terminator-level impression.
- Runner-up: Clive Owen – only says one real sentence ('Look at what they make you give') but makes a huge impression.
Best "that guy"
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Wambosi) – 'dialed up, basically playing the guy from Oz after 19 cups of coffee.'
Re-casting couch
- Chloe Sevigny instead of Julia Stiles – Bill: 'I'm just not a huge Julia Stiles fan.'
- Amy Adams instead of Julia Stiles.
- Casey Affleck or Cole Hauser instead of Clive Owen.
Half-assed (internet) research
- Damon did 3 months of training: weapons, boxing, and escrima. Performed his own stunts including wall-climbing.
- Chris Cooper and Brian Cox only had 5 days on set.
- Adam Savage (Mythbusters) owns the actual red bag prop with all the Bourne passports.
- Only 8 people die in the movie (fewer than expected).
Apex Mountain
- Matt Damon – strong case: 'sets up the next 20 years of his career, gives him a franchise.'
- Franka Potente – definitely.
- Small car chases – Chris argues this might be the apex for small car chases.
Picking nits
- How does Bourne not drown after being shot in the back and floating in the ocean?
- The car chase geography – Liman admits the Paris streets don't actually connect.
- Marie staying with Bourne despite increasing danger.
- The fishing boat conveniently having a trauma surgeon on board.
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
Bill: 'Could this be a 10-episode Netflix show? My answer is fuck yeah.' USA tried with Treadstone but it wasn't shot well enough.
Who won the movie?
Matt Damon – easily.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Did they screw up killing Clive Owen? Would it have been better to keep him as a recurring antagonist across the franchise?
- Is Matt Damon the greatest actor of all time at saying 'fuck it'?