Entertaining, handsome and gripping, "The Bourne Identity" is something of an anomaly among big-budget summer blockbusters: a thriller with some brains and feeling behind it, more attuned to story and character than to spectacle. The exciting action sequences, for the most part efficiently and clearly shot and edited, serve the story instead of overwhelming it.

Sometimes movies surprise you. The Bourne Identity suprised me today in a great way. It's an action movie, but strangley enough, it has a plot!