The Grand Master
Val Kilmer was once one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Great movies instantly come to mind such as Top Gun (1986), Willow (1989), The Doors (1991), True Romance (1993), Tombstone (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Heat (1995), The Ghost and The Darkness (1996), The Saint (1997), and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Unfortunately Val Kilmer's career has been marred by numerous flops and a reputation as one of the most difficult actors to work with. Nowadays Val Kilmer is keeping his career alive in direct-to-video movies and he is now a shadow of his former self. I thought Kiss Kiss Bang Bang would have resurrected his failing career although it did start to breathe new life in Robert Downey Jr's career before Iron Man (2008) catapulted him back into the big time.Val Kilmer plays Dr Nicholas Pinter, an American doctor working for Doctors Beyond Borders during war torn Bulgaria in 1992. Dr Pinter helps a mysterious woman named Katrine played by Izabella Miko escape from a would-be assailant following a close brush with death following a case of mistaken identity where Dr Pinter is believed to be a spy.It's a case of "been there done that" with Double Identity which has been done before with the Alfred Hitchcock classic North by Northwest (1959), however the end result is nothing short of pathetic, boring and uninspiring. I felt like everyone was sleepwalking through this thriller. Val Kilmer has packed on the kilos here and all of the charm and sex appeal he had in the prime of his career has been lost.Apart from the fact this movie was really bad, it's a shame to see a quality actor like Val Kilmer waste his career away in rubbish such as this. Unless something promising comes up for Val Kilmer, it looks like his career is going to be stuck in the wilderness for a long, long time.1/10
charlytully
At first I'm thinking this movie, DOUBLE IDENTITY, is more like this year's Liam Neeson flick, UNKNOWN, what with the possibility that Val Kilmer's doctor character has amnesia, or a split personality. A few minutes later plot developments show that DOUBLE IDENTITY is more exactly similar to THE TOURIST, as it becomes clear the doctor is what he says he is, and he's simply helping out the damsel in distress, played by Izabella Miko. Do Kilmer and Miko share more on-screen chemistry than Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie? Probably, but that really is not saying much. Are the plot twists of DOUBLE IDENTITY any more plausible than those of THE TOURIST? No, but at least not as much money was wasted in this film on pyrotechnics and Venetian scenery. One of the main faults I had viewing DOUBLE IDENTITY was a sense of deja vu; having seen this all before, along the lines of something Graham Greeney--maybe THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE. Certainly another quibble some viewers may share is that the ending of DOUBLE IDENTITY feels quite forced and rushed, with the loose ends tied up just a little too neatly. The denouement even has a made-for-TV movie-of-the-week quality; you almost expect to see Tom Selleck come strutting down that sidewalk!
Bob_the_Hobo
This was oddly humorous, much like 'Hardwired' (another Kilmer gem). It has so many mistakes, like how the 1992 setting has cars from past 2000, and the characters have cell phones. Kilmer is bored, he looks likes he had one too many the whole movie.The story is simple, and had some promise, American Doctor (this is Kilmer) rescues Bulgarian woman (Isabella Miko) and gets in some trouble.Kilmer stumbles around like he's drunk. He's put on some weight, and I thought he was like a bumbling comic relief character. Only he was the main character. This made it kinda funny.If you could use a laugh this might be good. Mind numbing way to spend an hour and a half.
torrentstorm
Val Kilmer, looking nice and swank, heavier... but I still miss the old days when he played roles like the Saint. Then, we saw a much sharper, expressive, and exciting Kilmer. In this movie, Kilmer plays a doctor who becomes mistaken for a secret agent/diamond dealer, with the usual nefarious consequences. The story does try to keep you interested till the very end, but I felt Kilmer was a bit of a letdown.The movie takes place in Bulgaria, not Chechenya, and from there, moves to Prague. Most of the supporting actors seem to be slavic, but they all acted well. I could find no fault there. The girl, Katrine (Izabella Miko) is beautiful and acted well too.The main plot is not about saving anyone mysterious, nor protecting her from assailants. The girl is a secret double agent, working both for a British group seeking to control a diamond cartel, and the Bulgarian/Czech people who also want control of the same. The girl bumps into Kilmer, while running from being captured taking pictures for the Brits, kiss to make believe it was intentional to shake them off, and that begins a love affair, so strong, both were willing to risk their lives for the other. Whether or not you believe this is highly improbable depends on your definition of the word, but that is the plot, in a nutshell.This is not to say that the movie is just a frivolous jamboree of hastily made-up story lines. No, it was OK, considering the story is nothing new, and similar plots have been used many times before. It would be a mistake to compare this movie with older ones of similar ideas, such as 007 Diamonds Are Forever. Such movies were a tour de force. It would be an injustice to make such comparisons, so the best thing to do, I guess, is just to take this one as a standalone, and judge it by its own merit. Doing so, it is not a shining accomplishment, but neither does it fail miserably.So, bottom line: "will I like it?" If you like this kind of plot, it will keep you interested, but you'll have to follow the story carefully to avoid becoming confused. I know I did until I started doing some facial recognition. Despite the blasé storyline, it's not a bad waste of time.