The Bourne Identity • The Next Reel

"I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?" This week, movie lovers, we begin our series on the Bourne movies, starting here with Doug Liman's 2002 film, The Bourne Identity. Born from Robert Ludlum's classic spy thriller, this movie came out a time when the spy film genre was feeling a little... overstuffed. This film, as well as the two that followed it, proved that a spy film could be more than just action scenes loosely strung together with threads of a weak story. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we build to the upcoming The Bourne Legacy with this week's episode of Rash Pixel's Movies We Like. We chat about the Bourne series and Robert Ludlum who created it. We discuss the theory of the modern action filmmaking style, Chaos Cinema, and how it plays into the series. We also touch on this film as compared to the James Bond film of the same year, Die Another Day. It's a fun film and well worth watching. Join us as we begin digging into the empty pockets of Jason Bourne's mind! The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible