Incognito

Yes, the production values of INCOGNITO (especially the gauzy photography) smack of "B" Level production, this film shines for a few reasons, most notably the peek into the world of Art, Art History and Art Forgery. Anyone who considers themselves curious about both Rembrandt, his place in the art world, and the art world's place in history will enjoy this movie. This movie's depiction of the steps in the creation of a counterfeit masterpiece are possibly the best half-hour of film I've ever seen. The performances are excellent, and it deserved better than Direct to Video. Especially good are the performances of Rod Steiger, Jason Patric and Irene Jacob.

"Incognito" is one of those gems that you have to dig deep to discover. A relatively unknown movie, I bumped onto it as it was shown on the TV: I started viewing it hoping it to be at least watchable, and I was pleasantly surprised to realize that in fact it was really good.

The story is about a highly talented arts forger (Patrick), who agrees to paint a fake Rembrandt picture for $500,000. However, things get complicated when a girl he sleeps with (Jacob) happens to be one of the experts to judge its authenticity, and she gives the painting thumbs down. As if this were not enough, his employers change their tune with him, and this is when everything turns rather sour...

Jason Patrick is really good in his role; so good in fact, that I re-aligned my overall rating for him completely after this movie (it wasn't that high before that, as you can imagine). Irene Jacob is also good as his girlfriend, while Rod Steiger plays a small role but still manages to remind us of his grand standing. The film is well-directed, with the pace running smoothly; neither unnecessarily fast, nor boringly slow. All in all, a surprisingly good film: 8/10.

A bit of a pleasant surprise (considering its lack of theatrical release in the NY area), Incognito is a fairly involving drama/thriller involving a disturbed artist who's gotten so entangled in the underworld of art forgery he's never formed an identity of his own...he does a great Rembrandt, but Irene Jacob spots it as a fake, which both infuriates and attracts him...a murder occurs and the pursuit is on, with him trying to clear his name and trying to become a "real" artist...Patric is a little too brooding and pouty, making him hard to like for much of the film (C. Sheen or J. Depp could make him a much more sympathetic "bad" boy), but beautiful location work (widescreen, too -- I saw the laserdisc -- on video it's probably a mess) and the lovely & talented Ms. Jacob make it a surprisingly unique experience...check it out.

This is a typical B-thriller that airs on a Friday night. Because of that, my expectations for the movie weren't exactly huge. But I really felt enjoyed when watching this, it was in fact quite exciting. The story about a an art forger who fakes a Rembrandt picture is a quite good one, and was a relieving difference from most other B-thrillers. Although I doubt that the way he fakes the painting is possible in real life, it was very well made for this film. Remember, it's only a movie. The acting is mediocre. Not good, but not bad either. That doesn't matter much here, because it's the story that makes this a pretty good movie. The film takes place in Europe, something I liked for a change.

"You don't like people," says Marieke to Harry Donovan, challenging him to name one counter-example. It is no surprise; Harry is not very likable himself. The angry-but-brilliant artist is a cliché, but Jason Patric makes it work. His character finds some sort of healing in his rendering his father into a fake Rembrandt he makes in the movie, at the same time melding his relationship to his father into his own psyche. I would like to have seen more art and art commentary in this movie, but you can learn a lot from it.