Double identité

Growing up there was a bunch of movies I would have never saw if it wasn't for late night TV in the 90's. 'True Identity' happens to be one of them. It has stuck with me doing a Mrs. Doubtfire routine before that movie even existed. I'll state up front I'm not familiar with comedian Lenny Henry, but that didn't stop this film from having fun moments.

Struggling actor Miles Pope (Henry) is sat next to a reputed mobster (Frank Langella) who is thought to be dead on a flight. When it appears the plane is going down, the man airs his dirty secrets and afterwards wants Pope dead. With the help of his movie makeup neighbor, Miles undergoes a transition to being a white guy and then inadvertently takes the identity of the hitman sent to kill him. Faking his way thru conversations, making excuses, staging a fake murder scene until the gig is up and he has to find a real way out.

Quite a few recognizable faces pop up, but the show belongs to Henry, the dependable Langella and Andreas Katsulas (Star Trek TNG, The Fugitive) as the mobsters associate. There's a throwaway love interest and some corny cop play in which the film takes a dip however there's a solid laugh or two during his aspirations for a successful acting career.

Remember that classic bit from 'The Simpsons' with the pamphlet on stealing cable? "Fact: Most movies on cable get two stars or less and are repeated ad nauseam." That's 'True Identity' in a lot of ways. Good pieces here, I certainly laughed but you have to sit thru formula to get to them.

On his way to an audition, second-rate actor Miles Pope finds himself sat next to a businessman with connections to the acting world. However, during an extremely severe bit of turbulence, everyone assumes they will die and the confessions start – with Leland Carver confessing to Miles that he is really a wanted mobster (Frankie Lucino) assumed dead but hiding thanks to loads of plastic surgery. Of course when the plane doesn't crash, Carver is keen to keep his secret a secret and Miles finds himself on the run from a hit-man hired by Frankie.

Few people will come to this film hoping for much; indeed judging by the votes on this site it would appear that few people have come to this film at all. The plot sets up lots of material to be furiously milked and the writers don't disappoint as they take every strained setup they can and wring it dry. The fact that the plot is silly and forced will be no surprise to anyone but this was a price that I was willing to pay in this type of film in exchange for laughs. Sadly the film isn't actually that funny; it has some good moments but they are in the minority compared to the rest of the film that is mostly just so-so.

Henry's white makeup is impressive but once the novelty value has worn off there isn't a great deal left. His mimicry is good but his character voice (an American accent for Miles) is weak and generally his performance is only OK. His main problem is with the weak material he is given to work with; I'm not a big fan of him generally but he can do better than this. Langella is OK in support but not given that much to do – although his role is massive compared to the wasted presence of JT Walsh. Lane is pretty poor – not sure if he was trying to make himself the comedy Spike Lee but it didn't work.

Overall this is a pretty average film at best, but it isn't at its best that often. It is undemanding nonsense that will please some viewers and the white makeup is impressive but it must be said that the majority of viewers will find this comedy rather lacking in laughter and wit. Mindless stuff all round.

The first half hour of this movie could have been shortened by fifteen minutes -- too many minutes are used in set-up. It doesn't start getting good until Frank Langella comes along. Then it gradually improves as it goes along, and reaches and sustains its peak toward the end, starting when Henry introduces his alternate character.

There is a somewhat large and famous supporting cast, and for awhile one wonders why so many well-known actors would sign on, but by the end, their involvement becomes justified, although some are not given much to do.

This would make a good TV movie, but it would take a lot of bleeping. Too much of the F-word, for example.

Watching "True Identity," I was somehow reminded of an old "Saturday Night Live" Eddie Murphy skit where he disguised himself as a white man, then walked around New York City in makeup, realizing that when no black people are around, white people like to get funky.

At first I thought it was just a basic idea that bore resemblance, until two gags used in Murphy's skit were used in the film, and I started to wonder how they had ever gotten away with ripping off his materal. Then I realized that the writer of the film, Andy Breckman, used to write for "SNL," and that the film was an unofficial spin-off of Murphy's skit.

The problem with "SNL" spin-offs is that they take a successful five-minute paper-thin gag and stretch it out to full length. Mary Katherine Gallagher was never very funny, but her skits were watchable; whoever decided to put her oddball, unlikable character into a movie was nuts.

Luckily, even though it is far from being a great motion picture, "True Identity" has its fair share of good moments, which include British comedian Lenny Henry getting to dress up as a white guy and pose as an Italian-American mobster hit-man, then posing as James Brown's brother. (One of Murphy's trademark characters on "SNL" was his impersonation of James Brown in "James Brown's Hot Tub.")

Miles Pope is an aspiring actor living in the big city with hopes of becoming the lead in "Othello." When he boards a plane, he finds himself seated next to a strange man named Leland Carver. When the plane starts to plummet, Carver (played by Frank Langella) admits that he used to be a criminal, who was believed to have died in an explosion, but in reality survived, had facial alterations, and "spent thousands setting up a new identity." Of course, the plane then regains itself, leaving Miles with the knowledge that he will probably be chased by the gangster's hit men. So his only option is to disguise himself as a white man.

This is essentially a very weak setup, with a truly ridiculous and contrived plot (like a mobster would admit his real persona for no reason whatsoever). But the movie does have a fair amount of fun, and a few good belly laughs, including the opening scene. "You need to get to your roots," a director of a play tells Miles. "Act more black." "But black people don't act like this anymore!" Miles says. The director doesn't care, so Miles tries to portray a stereotypical black man. The result is very funny.

The film, as a whole, is completely harmless and serves its purpose. It's entertaining, with a silly plot but a good amount of funny scenes. Henry is able to show off how good he is at comedy while we are entertained. And for the record, his "white man makeup" was much more convincing than Murphy's.

I picked a Laserdisc edition of this film up on ebay recently, simply because I was never aware that Lenny had acted in anything other than TV sitcoms.

Personally, I thought the film was entertaining enough.... Lenny stars as actor wannabee 'Miles Pope' who is on the run from the mob after finding out that local good guy 'Leland Carver' is in fact a wanted criminal who is assuming a new identity after plastic surgery. Aided by his friend Duane, who is a movie make up artist, Miles is transformed into a White guy so he can escape a hit-man sent by Carver. However, once Miles has dispatched him, he then takes on the role as the hit-man himself, in a bid to undercover the truth about Carver and expose him to the FBI.

The makeup that transforms Lenny into a white guy is very well done, however, his attempts at an American accent are less successful. The film has some good comedy moments, and some great one-liners, and it is a shame that it didn't do very well at the box office, in my opinion Lenny is a talented bloke and could have done so much more with his film career. So, to summarise: Nothing ground breaking here, and certainly no Oscars were missed but if you have nothing to do for an hour and a half you could do far worse than watch this. A fun little movie.