Identical (2011)

"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."

First problem I had with this movie was that they set it in a Jewish neighborhood that was very clearly Hasidic and when the mother gave birth they allowed it to happen on the sidewalk AND random men were touching her. Men and Women in Hasidic culture are not allowed to touch in public even if you know them, even your husband. The Second problem I had was how slow it was. The Third problem I had was the TERRIBLE acting. Jonathan Togo was all over the map and not in the way his character was written but his acting would be good in one scene and bad in the next or worse in some scenes one moment was good and the rest bad. Emily Foxler should find another profession all together, she was just embarrassing to watch...Lifetime shouldn't even hire her. And my Fourth and biggest problem was the terrible writing and plot. Daniel and Yumiko Bollag ripped off parts of Face Off, Fight Club,The Omen and several other movies slapped on some "Jewish" beginning and said let's see if anyone is stupid enough to watch this. Which unfortunately I was. Do yourself and the world a favor and break all copies you find of this film. Bollag's you now owe me 2 hours of my life, the 1.20 I payed at redbox and 24 trillion in emotional damages. You also owe royalties to A LOT of people.

This movie got my attention because of the actor who plays the main character. I'm a big fan of Jon Togo so I thought it was worth a shot. I'm glad I decided to pick it up because my favorite kind of movie is the kind that keeps your heart racing and your mind guessing as well as your palms sweating. It had a perfect amount of mystery and twists, even the end surprised me. In a way I saw it coming but they made it original. It was worth watching and I'd watch it again. I think the male and female lead did a great job with their part. It must have been interesting to throw themselves into these characters. Overall, great film. Unique.

first of all, by claiming this movie was 'inspired by true event' is a total joke. and then, the screenplay writer(s), the director and the actor who play the twin brother role, all did unconvincing jobs, resulting this movie turned out to be a total mess. the actor who played the twin brothers got a very serious speaking problem. all the dialog he delivered sounded like his mouth got several marbles in it, there's no way to hear clearly what he said, every word, every sentence are just blurring, there's no way to quite understand what he's talking about. as to the movie itself, what a messy screenplay we got here. we did not know why the mother who bore these twins hated them so much, and why the father treated them like someone else sons. one evil and one good, but after seeing this pathetic movie, neither was good, and both were evil. then came the poor directing followed by the poorly crafted screenplay, the twin brothers were so confusing, sometimes you felt there's just one brother who got 'split personalities' problem; or there were indeed two look-alike brothers, both got mental problems, or one of them was serial killer. there were so many gray areas that confused the audience to the extreme. there were so many scenes that were totally unnecessary and purposeless. the whole movie simply turned weirder and weirder, more confusing as the movie continued. at first, there's some promising moment that this movie might be good and different from the usual movies in the similar genre, but in the end, just another ridiculous and messy crap that you carelessly ate up without knowing before it's too late. i strongly suggest that this actor who played the double images of the twin brothers go find some speaking specialist to adjust and correct his blurring speaking problem.