Robert J. Maxwell
An average made-for-television movie -- not bad but strictly by the numbers. The title pretty much tells the whole story, but surely dramatizes some of the elements, such as Annabella Sciorra's not merely using Kimberley Williams-Paisley's credit cards and bank account to stoke up on "stuff" or "things", but desiring to actually BE the victim, whose real name is Michelle Brown.Michelle Brown, a good, solid English name. Sciorra is named Connie Volkos which, in comparison, sounds like something from the Mongolian steppes. The story has almost written itself for television. Sometimes it feels good to be a victim. Freud called the good things about being a victim "secondary gains," but if that's all there were to it there would be no such thing as Münchausen's syndrome. Not that Michelle Brown invited this exploitation. She's as blameless as Bridget Fonda was in a similar story, "Single, White, Female." Michelle is young, slim, sexy, bubbly, and cute in an almost cartoonish way. She has sparkling blue eyes and exudes innocence. She has a high chirpy voice that in times of upset turns a little tinny. All she wants is a house and the guy waiting in the wings to come out as a loving husband who is cheerful and "there" for her. And vegetarian pizza.Schiorra is older, bleached blond, sinister, surprisingly hefty, and whorish. We meet her sucking a chocolate lollipop and twirling a strand of her tangled hair. She's a contralto. We can tell at once from her appearance and demeanor that she's a self-absorbed slut. She listens to hip hop music in her brand new automobile bought with some kind of credit stolen from honest, likable Michelle. She dyes her hair brown like Michelle's and obtains a fake photo ID. It goes on rather predictably from there.There is one unanticipated element in the film. Sciorra's character is given a certain amount of depth. She has a reason for acting as she does, though not a justification. It's probably Anna Sciorra's best performance, mixing as it does envy, defiance, carelessness, indifference, and pathos. It adds to the film, not so much through the dialog as through Sciorra's handling of the role. I have a creepy feeling that in real life, "Connie Volkos" didn't want to absorb Michelle Brown's identity; she just wanted the money.
raisleygordon
This is an effective biographical drama that does entertain from beginning to end, although I think real-life identity theft cases are much more serious than this movie says. Is going to prison a light sentence? Can't really say. Also, I don't think Identity Theft has ever been covered until this movie came along (Most crime movies are always about sexual crimes, or anything involving weapons and/or destruction). As I mentioned before, real-life cases are probably more serious than the one depicted here. In spite of its effectiveness and entertainment value, I think this movie could have used more complications. As to why the judge (at the end of the movie) would dismiss the case as a minor issue, is anyone's guess. So, after watching this movie, you might want to be careful about who you give your credit card (or any other personal info) to.
Anothersmalltowngirl
While I am glad there is a movie such as this to help inform people about this sort of thing, there were a few things about the movie that angered me. while I do not want to spoil the movie for anyone...I was very angry what the real Michelle had to go through. Also, it was very disappointing that the criminal got such a light sentence. Anyone who commits this type of crime should be given harsher penalties otherwise, when they are released, they may just do it again. There just isn't enough being done about identity theft and frauds these days. A slap on the wrist is just not enough. Also, victims should NOT be afraid to fight back harder. Being scared when you see someone commit a crime against you is not going to stop criminals. If this had been me, (thank the Lord it wasn't) she would not have been able to get away. She would not have had the opp. to do some things she did.....
gazineo-1
Poor handled material about a real story concerning a young woman (Williams) who has all her data and her identity too stole by an ambitious and ill minded secretary (Sciorra). The movie goes on and on, never offering any climax moments or interesting facts, until the constrained ending when informations about the facts and the persons involved are given like a policial report.The story of this movie has potential, indeed. Nowdays, one of the big problems in commerce activity is the real possibility of one has all his or hers personal information (name, number of social security, ID or credit card)used by stealers and modern pirates in a series of crimes.Unfortunately, 'Identity Theft' never hits the bull eye. In my opinion, I think this movie was made almost with an amateur touch, like a second grade production. I give this one a 3 (three).