Incognito (1997)

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for five hundred thousand dollars. The girl he meets and gets into bed with, in Paris, Marieke, turns out to be an art ... See full summary »

Director:

John Badham

Writer:

Jordan Katz

Stars:

Jason Patric, Irène Jacob, Thomas Lockyer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for five hundred thousand dollars. The girl he meets and gets into bed with, in Paris, Marieke, turns out to be an art expert, who Harry's clients are using to check the counterfeit picture he painted.

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Plot Keywords:

frame up | art | rembrandt | one word title | troubled artist | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Incógnito

Filming Locations:

France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a scene in this movie where Harry Donovan (Jason Patric) finds out about the death of his father (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.

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Goofs

At the very end, when they spin and kiss, Jason Patric clearly looks right at the camera.

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Quotes

Harry Donovan: I just don't understand why you guys have to sit here and piss on other people, let alone Rembrandt.
Cafe intellectual: Professor Scheerding *proved* that the painting, The Man With The Golden Helmet, is just a cheap fake.
Prof. Scheerding: I'm sure you know that, uh, in 1930 there were over 800 *supposed* Rembrandts.
Harry Donovan: And now we're down to 241, thanks to you and your friends - and dropping. So, bully for you! Every schoolkid's favorite picture is now junk, because some self-appointed windbag has said so. You know, the problem is, ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002)

User Reviews

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.