True Identity

Its the shame this movie bombed at the box office, it really not that bad at all! The script and direction is maybe so so, but as a first major role for Lenny Henry, he really should have got more movies out of this. Not forgetting that he had a great support cast who did the best with what they had, making a still amusing film at the right time of day. I thought the make up/transformation of Henry was quite amazing and funny and perhaps has been over looked under appreciated ?, (Then again its brilliance may have caused certain people some discomfort?). To sum up,great cast,dodgy script and slightly wobbly direction but still worth seeing.

I am also a Lenny Henry fan and have enjoyed this movie each time it's been on (I think 3-4 times) on US cable. Like many movies, one needs to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the ride. Frank Langella is always good as an unexpected bad guy and I thought Lenny's dual role was very well done. This movie is lite fare and fun. Run to your nearest PBS outlet and watch Chef when it's on.

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.

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.

Lenny Henry who is somewhat under appreciated as an actor was superb in this film he's very funny in 'True Identity' and makes a groundbreaking performance in this in his 'whitesuit'. He makes a fantastic caucasian person looking a little bit like a taller version of Martin Short (comedian/actor). It's unfortunate that this wasn't as big a hit as it should and could have been...It wasn't marketed properly, wasn't on enough Screens etc etc. I 've seen far more mediocre films do far better at the Box Office precisely because the studio put more money into marketing it or opened very wide...and that is a shame. It's business! It would be wise and make great business sense for some studio to do another movie with Lenny Henry as the star; one that mixes comedy with another genre or two eg; Comedy/Action, Comedy/Horror. Comedy/Romance/Action. Comedy/Sci-Fi/Action etc. etc...Lenny Henry is a comedic giant and could make some studio a heck of a lot of money!