Identical (2011)

Simply Perfect

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Awesome Movie

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"Identical" was billed as a film that was "inspired by true events." Apparently, the true events were the biblical story of Cain and Abel. But the storyline was hopelessly confused, and, as it developed, it veered far way from the original story in the Book of Genesis.The film opens in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The year is 1974. A woman is walking along the street, then drops to the ground and begins delivering a baby. Following the joy of the moment, the woman recognizes that she is about to pop out a second baby. She does not look pleased at all with that prospect.As the two little boys in this middle-class family are growing up, it is clear that the parents loathe, mistreat, and even abuse one of the boys. While the details are murky, it appears as though one of the two boys later pushes the mother down the stairs to her death.Fast forward 20 years: The boys are now men in their twenties residing in New York. One is a successful executive involved in fraudulent business activities. The other is a bohemian type who is an artist.Thus far, the film's idea had potential in developing the Cain and Abel archetype. But at this point, the screenplay ran off the rails because it was never clear if Mark (the executive) was Cain and Rich (the bohemian) was Abel, or vice versa. Both characters were freaks! The unpleasantness of this film was truly appalling with far too much violence. Ed Asner appeared in two scenes as the father. But even Asner could not salvage this stinker of a film.SPOILER FOLLOWS: At the end, there is a plot twist revealed when the birth certificate of Mark/Rich is pulled out. There is also a touch of the paranormal with a little boy following the villain around as his "conscience." Finally, the villain turns himself in at the police precinct. But the cops are too stupid or too slow to interview him, and he walks out of the building. A final scene with more paranormal activity in the home of the psycho caps off this turkey.It was difficult to come up for a title for this review. The film never developed a theme for its biblically inspired subject matter. So, like the writers of the film's screenplay, I just pulled up for random a phrase that sounded biblical: "The Sins of the Father Are Visited Upon the Son."

Terrible, terrible plot. The acting is absolutely abysmal. I'm surprised that this (reluctant to even use the term "film") hasn't been thought of as a form of torture! Come to think of it, if I was given a choice between water-boarding and watching this film, I'd take water-boarding hands down! Please, if you've got anything else to do in your life aside from watching this movie (reluctant to use term again), even if you're contemplating pulling out your nails with a set of rusty pliers, that would be better time spent! My only hope is that I can spare you the pain I've endured. Now my only other regret is beginning this review as I've just found out that I have to spend more time writing a minimum of 10 lines so as to submit this "review". Still, it may be worth it if it prevents only one person from subjecting themselves to such an atrocity.

My brother and sister-in-law wanted to watch this movie because they like the actor. It plays like a made for TV movie. No surprise that it didn't make it into the theaters. The story was slow and confusing, and the ending was predictable. We called the ending less than half way through the movie. The previous reviewer who said the actor's speech was slurred and difficult to understand hit the nail on the head. So frustrating to sit through. We watched the whole movie despite our disappointment because we were hoping for a big payoff at the end and we were very let down. There are too many good and even mediocre movies out there to waste your time with this one. The only bright side is that now we can make fun of the movie tomorrow...

It is always very awkward doing a review on a movie based on a novel. The novel, or book will always take precedence. In this case, - well- this movie had me reeling from one minute to the next..Still very hard to explain that without giving the whole story or a spoiler. It is very well done and i like the fact that is not cheaply done in a one room or on stage production. (not that i don't like that in the right context) . Plenty of light and open air filming.The story about one mans fight within himself sort of sums this up. Well worth the watch if you have the time to absorb the story. If you are looking for- Action - not a lot here. More for the people looking to solve and absorb.