“Identity” is a thriller with some interesting ideas but some of the writing is just awful. The movie stars John Cusack (“Con Air”, “The Raven”), who is easily the best thing about the whole production. This is a frustrating film to write about it because it’s hard to compare it to anything else without giving too much of it away.

In “Identity”, a group of strangers find themselves stuck as a Nevada motel during a storm that has flooded the road in both directions. One by one, they are murdered and the group members try to find out which one of them is responsible.

Cusack is good but the material is lousy. He is not given all that much to do but he is clearly trying his best as a limousine driver and former-police officer. Ray Liotta (“Goodfellas”, “Cop Land”) is okay here. Jake Busey (“Enemy of the State”) is disappointing. The other characters are far less interesting and I found the one played by John C. McGinley (“Office Space”) to be really annoying. Lots of the interactions between the group at the motel are rather underwhelming. Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”) has a small role but leaves little to no impact.

“Identity” is a film that throws some twists at you. Some of the twists are fairly inventive but the final moment is truly terrible and reminded me of countless bad horror films. A truly good twist can redeem an otherwise bad movie but what is on offer here only makes things worse. There are some good things in here such as Cusack’s performance and the atmosphere created by the storm is quite impressive. It’s such a shame that the script is so amateurish at times. If you want some thrillers with good twists then watch “Fight Club”, “The Usual Suspects”, “Blood Work” or “Psycho” instead.