Incognito (1997)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writer (WGA):

Jordan Katz (written by)

Release Date:

13 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Harry Donovan is a master in the art of deception... trapped in a lie so perfect even the truth can't save him.

Plot:

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for $500,000. The girl he meets and gets into bed with in Paris...

Plot Keywords:

Art | Rembrandt | Forger | Female Nudity | Murder

Cast

Jason Patric	...	Harry Donovan
Irène Jacob	...	Prof. Marieke van den Broeck
Thomas Lockyer	...	Alastair Davies
Ian Richardson	...	Turley (prosecutor)
Simon Chandler	...	Iain Ill
Pip Torrens	...	White (defense attorney)
Michael Cochrane	...	Deeks
Rod Steiger	...	Milton A. Donovan
Togo Igawa	...	Agachi
Joseph Blatchley	...	Prof. Scheerding
Paul Brennen	...	Det. Sgt. Steed
Olivier Pierre	...	Lecuyer
Peter Gale	...	Westerbrook
David Marrick	...	Bright
Dudley Sutton	...	Halifax / Offul

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:12 (video rating) | Netherlands:AL | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

There is a scene in the film where Harry Donovan finds out about the death of his father (played by Rod Steiger) from heart failure in a newspaper clipping. The date of death given was Tuesday, July 9. Rod Steiger died five years later on Tuesday, July 9, 2002 of pneumonia and kidney failure.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Harry Donovan is in Amsterdam and tries to buy painting in two different shops, both shop owners speak German and not Dutch.

Quotes:

Harry Donovan: Do you have any money?
Prof. Marieke van den Broeck: Why, you want to steal it?
Harry Donovan: Yes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002) (V)

Relatively Unknown Gem

"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.