Badly wounded and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is pulled out of the Mediterranean by fishermen, and is able to recall neither who he is nor what happened to him. His only clue to his identity is the number of a Swiss bank account which has been etched into a device implanted in his body. Following the lead to Zurich, he discovers money, passports and a gun waiting for him, but also earns the attention of the security services and has to leave in a hurry. He then persuades a young woman named Marie Kreutz (Franka Potente) to drive him to Paris, where he hopes to find out his true identity and discover the reason why the CIA are taking such an interest in him. Directed by Doug Liman ('Swingers', 'Go'). Freely adapted from Robert Ludlum's 1980 bestseller, The Bourne Identity starts fast and never slows down. The twisting plot revs up in Zurich, where amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), with no memory of his name, profession, or recent activities, recruits a penniless German traveler ( Run Lola Run's Franka Potente) to assist in solving the puzzle of his missing identity. While his CIA superior (Chris Cooper) dispatches assassins to kill Bourne and thus cover up his failed mission, Bourne exercises his lethal training to leave a trail of bodies from Switzerland to Paris. Director Doug Liman ( Go) infuses Ludlum's intricate plotting with a maverick's eye for character detail, matching breathtaking action with the humorous, thrill-seeking chemistry of Damon and Potente. Previously made as a 1988 TV movie starring Richard Chamberlain, The Bourne Identity benefits from the sharp talent of rising stars, offering intelligent, crowd-pleasing excitement from start to finish. -- Jeff Shannon