After a few smaller efforts that attracted solid critical attention, director James Mangold got his shot at a Big Hollywood rom-com with 2001’s Kate & Leopold. When it didn’t become a smash, Mangold went back to his more dramatic roots via 2003’s thriller Identity.

When a storm causes threatening weather in the Nevada desert, various travelers seek shelter at a rundown motel. Along with a series of ordinary people, this group includes convicted murderer Robert Maine (Jake Busey) and his police transport Samuel Rhodes (Ray Liotta).

As their stays progress, someone starts to murder the guests. Maine seems like the likely party but he might not be the actual perpetrator.

“Might not” meaning “of course not”. Sorry if that exists as a spoiler, but anyone who expects a tale like this to make the most obvious suspect the actual culprit.

Identity mixes the shenanigans at the motel with the tale of Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince), a convicted murderer set for execution. A psychiatrist (Alfred Molina) testifies to relate why Malcolm’s actions stemmed from a mental disorder.

To say more would enter spoiler territory, so I’ll stop there. I will indicate that although Malcolm’s case and the interactions in the desert seem unconnected through most of the film, they eventually come together – again, for reasons left unsaid due to the aforementioned spoilers.

These twists become what separates Identity from the pack, both for good and for bad. On the positive side, the curveballs the film throws at us allow it to overcome its genre conventions.

The motel segments essentially use an Agatha Christie framework. We assume the narrative will follow that path from start to finish, and that makes the various left turns more of a surprise.

However, I think Identity relies far too much on its twists to carry the viewer’s attention. I get the sense screenwriter Michael Cooney came up with the “shocking moments” first and then went backwards to develop a story around them.

Honestly, the basic plot feels painfully thin and gimmicky once the revelations occur. Because Identity relies so much on its third act’s developments for its power, the first two parts seem less than compelling.

Identity tends to come across as a collection of contrivances in search of a real story. This can make it a lively ride when first seen but it feels unlikely to hold up to scrutiny or additional screenings.

The movie does offer a fine cast, as in addition to those named, we find John Cusack, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Clea DuVall, John C. McGinley and Rebecca DeMornay, among others. All do well as their intentionally – spoilers! – stereotypical characters.

And like I mentioned, Identity keeps the viewer off-guard during an initial viewing that it maintains interest. Unfortunately, the deeper the movie goes, the sillier it becomes and the whole house of cards collapses under its own pretensions.

Identity appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The native 4K Dolby Vision image looked very good.

Overall sharpness worked fine. An occasional interior could lean a little soft but the majority of the film appeared accurate and concise.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural and I witnessed no print flaws.

Though not over the top in this regard, the palette of Identity leaned stylized, with some emphasis on greens, ambers and blues along with sporadic reds. The disc represented the colors well and HDR gave the tones added punch.

Blacks looked deep and rich while low-light shots felt smooth. HDR brought extra punch to contrast and whites. This wound up as a strong visual presentation.

Note that my “screener disc” for Identity came with two issues when viewed via Dolby Vision on a Panasonic player. For one, as detailed in my review of Red Sun, the film may play with audio and no picture, a problem solved if you briefly run a different Dolby Vision disc and then start Identity.

In addition, the test disc of Identity also suffered from an overwhelming green tint – sometimes. Bizarrely, this hue – which completely obliterated all other colors – showed up the first few times I plopped Identity into my player but then just stopped.

This “fix” may’ve stemmed from a firmware update. I checked my firmware when this issue occurred and the connection claimed I was up to date, but it’s possible that the firmware updated when I performed this check.

In any case, Arrow assured me both issues wouldn’t affect the 4K UHD of Identity found on retail shelves. The concerns appear to only impact these check discs.

No problems connected to the high-quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Identity. The mix made solid use of the various channels.

The nearly omnipresent thunderstorm became the dominant factor, as it created a lively sonic setting. Other violent or “shock” scenes brought the five speakers to life as well and helped form a consistently vivid soundscape.

Audio quality seemed strong, with speech that remained natural and concise. Music showed positive range and impact.

Effects felt accurate and tight, with good low-end. The film’s soundtrack suited the story.

The 4K UHD includes both the movie’s theatrical version (1:30:01) as well as an extended cut (1:31:09). What does the extra 68 seconds buy the viewer?

The addition comes from a scene that offers some exposition about the hearing for Malcolm Rivers. It adds a bit more context but seems inessential.

Alongside the theatrical cut, we get two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from director James Mangold. He provides a running, screen-specific look at how he came to the project, story/characters, cinematography, locations and set design, cast and performances, music and audio, editing and related areas.

From start to finish, Mangold makes this a terrific track. He covers a nice variety of topics and does so in a concise and engaging manner.

For the second commentary, we hear from writer Michael Cooney. He creates his own running, screen-specific discussion of the project’s origins and development, inspirations and influences, the script’s development and changes made along the way, story, characters and connected topics.

Prepared and insightful, Cooney gives us a fine look at his work. He details various aspects of the screenplay’s evolution to make this a solid chat.

A few featurettes follow, and I Met a Man That Wasn’t There runs 12 minutes, 56 seconds. Actor Pruitt Taylor Vince sits for this interview.

Vince tells us how he got into acting as well as his experiences on Identity. While not a deep dive, Vince gives us some good notes.

Producing Identity spans 26 minutes, 22 seconds. This one gives us thoughts from producer Cathy Konrad.

She digs into the evolution of her career in film along with the Identity shoot. Konrad delivers lots of good details in this solid reel.

With On the Set, we locate a circa 2003 featurette. It occupies 14 minutes, 18 seconds and offers remarks from Konrad, Mangold and actors John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and Amanda Peet.

They talk about story/characters, cast and performances, and some production elements. This winds up as a pretty forgettable promotional reel.

Five Deleted Scenes occupy a total of six minutes, 15 seconds. These offer some modest character extensions and don't seem especially compelling.

We can watch the sequences with or without commentary from Mangold. He delivers a few thoughts about the segments and why they didn't make the cut.

Three Storyboard Comparisons take up a total of four minutes, 47 seconds as they show the art on the top of the screen and the final film on the bottom. These provide a nice view of the planning processes and how they translated to the movie.

Along with the film’s trailer, we conclude with an Image Gallery that includes 323 frames. These mix publicity and behind the scenes elements to become a good compilation.

With a good cast and an intriguing premise, Identity seems poised to impress. However, the movie feels too interested in its quirks and twists so it becomes less than effective in the end. The 4K UHD delivers positive picture and audio along with a solid collection of supplements. Identity keeps us with it but it seems spotty thanks to its self-conscious attempt to feel “different”.