A great Espionage novel can be best described by the word “unputdownable”. Yeah I know it is a made up word and doesn’t exist. But how else would you explain the feeling of wanting to continue reading non-stop. How else would you explain the feeling of desperately wanting to turn the pages over, faster than you would normally do because you are that desperate to find out what happens in the end.
And such unputdownable novels are just the right fodder that movie makers across the world are looking for. But why in the blazes did it take Hollywood 22 years after Robert Ludlum’s best seller was published, to make a movie on it? Add this also to the several unexplained mysteries of the world.
But, better late than never for certain. Doug Liman took the challenge of adapting this gripping novel about a spy who doesn’t know what his true identity is and sets out to single handedly find out who he is and more importantly what is the purpose of his existence in God’s great earth?
A good espionage story needs to build the sense of suspense from frame / page one and that’s exactly what Ludlum does. Liman just follows the great author. A stormy night somewhere in the Mediterranean sea. A body that is sighted by a fishing boat. A bunch of good fisherman who pull the body out and treat the man.
The man wakes up to a splitting headache and is unable to remember who he is but has flashes from his past. The doctor who is treating him recovers some kind of a laser device from his hip. The device gives him a number that seems like a bank account in Zurich. The man gets better and makes his way to Zurich where he finds out that his name his Jason Bourne (Matt Damon)
The story of the movie is not a 100% in adherence to the book. The book has elements of Carlos The Jackal whereas the movie has no reference to it whatsoever. But the overall elements remain the same. The attempt to find identity. The movement from city to city under various aliases. Stunning car chases in cars that otherwise look perfectly normal. Sniper sequences. Everything that goes into making an Espionage movie.
But most importantly, what the makers got bang on right is the casting. Chris Cooper as Conklin, the head of Treadstone is superb. All the recruits of Treadstone are an example of perfect casting – Clive Owen, Gabriel Mann. And I cannot think of anyone else who would have made a better Bourne than Matt Damon. Excellent first step. 8 on 10.
Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI56162Lz0A
And such unputdownable novels are just the right fodder that movie makers across the world are looking for. But why in the blazes did it take Hollywood 22 years after Robert Ludlum’s best seller was published, to make a movie on it? Add this also to the several unexplained mysteries of the world.
But, better late than never for certain. Doug Liman took the challenge of adapting this gripping novel about a spy who doesn’t know what his true identity is and sets out to single handedly find out who he is and more importantly what is the purpose of his existence in God’s great earth?
A good espionage story needs to build the sense of suspense from frame / page one and that’s exactly what Ludlum does. Liman just follows the great author. A stormy night somewhere in the Mediterranean sea. A body that is sighted by a fishing boat. A bunch of good fisherman who pull the body out and treat the man.
The man wakes up to a splitting headache and is unable to remember who he is but has flashes from his past. The doctor who is treating him recovers some kind of a laser device from his hip. The device gives him a number that seems like a bank account in Zurich. The man gets better and makes his way to Zurich where he finds out that his name his Jason Bourne (Matt Damon)
The story of the movie is not a 100% in adherence to the book. The book has elements of Carlos The Jackal whereas the movie has no reference to it whatsoever. But the overall elements remain the same. The attempt to find identity. The movement from city to city under various aliases. Stunning car chases in cars that otherwise look perfectly normal. Sniper sequences. Everything that goes into making an Espionage movie.
But most importantly, what the makers got bang on right is the casting. Chris Cooper as Conklin, the head of Treadstone is superb. All the recruits of Treadstone are an example of perfect casting – Clive Owen, Gabriel Mann. And I cannot think of anyone else who would have made a better Bourne than Matt Damon. Excellent first step. 8 on 10.
Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI56162Lz0A
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