Matt Damon Is No Harrison Ford, But He Can Hold His Own

Back in May, at the start of the summer movie season, USA Today ran an article that asked the question, “Who will be the next Harrison Ford?”

It threw out the names of some of Hollywood’s younger leader men – Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Heath Ledger, et al – and pondered which of them may be ready to take up the mantle of modern-day action hero. (Though it should be noted that Ford will not go quietly into that long night: he recently announced that he will team up once more with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for a fourth Indiana Jones film.)

Matt Damon’s turn at the plate has arrived with The Bourne Identity, which is now playing and did quite well on its first weekend (though it was no match for Scooby Doo, which nearly hit a record for a June opening). So, is Damon the next Harrison Ford?

That’s an inherently unfair question (to which Affleck recently answered in an interview, “There is no next Harrison Ford.”).

Perhaps more appropriate is this question: Does Damon convincingly fit the bill for this action-thriller? The answer is a resounding yes!

Based on the late Robert Ludlum’s best-selling novel of 1980, The Bourne Identity is a no-nonsense spy movie that casts Damon as an amnesiac who is recovered drifting at sea at the beginning of the film. He is nursed back to physical health by a group of benevolent Italian fisherman off the coast of the Mediterranean, but his mental state is still a mess. He can’t remember who he is, where he came from, or how he received two bullet wounds in his back! He also finds a small chip implanted in his body that leads him to a Swiss bank account in Zurich.

Once there, he finds a safe deposit box which contains multiple passports with his image (one of which says his name is Jason Bourne), loads of world currency, lots of nifty gadgets and one mean-looking gun. Following the chip also leads him to a world of trouble with the local authorities and the CIA abroad. Why? He doesn’t know, but he’s beginning to wonder how he can speak several languages so fluently and disarm multiple attackers without breaking a sweat...  and that’s just for starters.

Teamed with Damon is actress Franka Potente of Run Lola Run, who is very appealing as a nomadic German ex-pat whom Bourne pays to drive him from Zurich to Paris. She gets much more than she ever bargained for (of course!), but the film smartly avoids making her simply a screaming appendage, but instead paints her as a realistic bystander who unwittingly gets caught up in a dangerous game.

Indie director Doug Liman (Go and Swingers) takes the helm of his first big-budget studio film with a sure hand. He has a great eye for locales (the settings and scenery are outstanding) and an even better sense of pacing. He keeps the film moving along briskly without resorting to extraneous explosions every ten minutes. Yet, when the fireworks do come, Liman and his star, Damon, pull them off quite well, as Bourne’s derring-do is less an attitude (no Schwarzenegger one-liners here) and more a natural reflex.

The Bourne Identity also boasts an impeccable supporting cast, including Chris Cooper, Brian Cox and Clive Owen. The one minor misstep is the casting of Julia Stiles as a CIA operative in Paris. She simply seems too overmatched to be playing in this spy game. Whereas Potente comes off as naturally charismatic and interesting, Stiles seems stilted and shoe-horned into the proceedings. Nevertheless, that’s a minor quibble for a genuinely entertaining and thrilling two hours at the movies.

The Bourne Identity is rated PG-13 for violence and language. It’s not especially graphic, but it doesn’t pull any punches either.