19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A truly satisfying adventure drama, February 12, 2003
This movie is definitely one of those undiscovered treasures sitting on a video store shelf. I had decided to catch up on some Irene Jacob movies and found this one co-starring Jason Patric. Patric has the ability to be either annoying (e.g. Speed 2) or sympathetic, and despite the criticisms I have seen here that the character he plays is a jerk, I found his behavior necessary for the storyline. He plays Harry Donovan, a young art forger resentful of the art industry's machinations, yet stuck in his own cycle of forgery and missing opportunities to be recognized for his own talent.
Donovan is approached by three sleazy Brit art dealers who commission him to forge a Rembrandt for half a million dollars, and after initially rebuffing them, he takes up the challenge.
Having taken art in high school and as a sometime hobby, it was fascinating to watch Donovan at work; intently studying Rembrandt's works in Europe's art museums and libraries, carefully shopping for materials that would make his forgery appear authentic, and then imitating the Rembrandt style to perfection.
Along the way, he meets the lovely Marieke van den Broeck (Irene Jacob), who as a student of art restoration, unwittingly gives Donovan access to a Rembrandt from which he gets paint samples. She is attracted by Donovan's passion for art and his indignation at the art world's injustice (guys like Van Gogh died penniless). Watching Donovan verbally demolish two French art snobs is a hoot. Marieke is enthralled. Things get hot and heavy.
Of course, one could guess he would be double-crossed by the sleazy art dealers. He has to steal his own painting and go on the run, kidnapping Marieke on the way. I know a lot of this is contrived, but boy, it was entertaining.
This movie made me appreciate Jason Patric as an actor, and Irene Jacob is simply lovely to watch. She conveys an innocent, unpretentious beauty, and like many French actresses, she is not shy of nudity. We also get admirable supporting characters in the form of Rod Steiger as Donovan's artist father, and Ian Holm as an art dealer.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Literate, little seen thriller, March 28, 2002
This review is from: Incognito (DVD)
Here's one of those movies I love to find for people. Who decides which movies get major releases and which ones are dispatched to a celluloid land fill? I've known some studio executives in my time. Typically, they'd shrug their shoulders and say, "Go Figure!".
"Incognito" was released in theaters in the UK and in Finland in late 1997. In April 1998, it got a limited two week run here. True, it will never make AFI's Top 100, but as decent escapist entertainment, it is a lot better than many of those turkeys that get millions of dollars in publicity. Some of these I refuse to write about because it's impolite to review something you can't finish watching.
This clever little thriller is director John Badham's best work in a while. Badham was a really hot talent in the 1970's. There are a few holes in the plot, but he makes up for this in its entertainment factor.
The subject matter is interesting. Most people don't think about art forgery often. As a profession and a business, it's been around for just a few decades. I think it began around the time artists actually got paid for their efforts. I assure you that selling art through galleries is a 20th Century invention.
Here, Patric not only acts, he holds his own playing against the powerful and beautiful French actress, Irene Jacobs. Typically, American actors seem awkward and uncomfortable playing against French actresses. This cannot be said of Mr. Patric. His love scenes with Jacobs may cause your TV screen to fog up from the steam.
Several things intrigued me about "Incognito". The character delineation is keener than usual for a thriller. Patric's art forger is not proud of what he does. This is a passionate, intelligent man, who is the first to admit that this is all about money. He knows that the huge sums he's earns does not alter the fact that, anyone who can successfully fake almost any painter's style, is so gifted that they should be doing original works of their own.
When contacted by a couple of delightfully devious and evil art gallery owners, he at first not so politely refuses to do a virtually impossible forgery. He's dislike these men, but an offer of $500,000 finally changes his mind.
The writing and the acting in "Incognito" is atypical of a thriller, because that aspect becomes subordinate to other events, such as Patric's complex love affair with Jacobs, who plays a noted French art professor.
The work of art he must imitate is one by Rembrandt that lost at sea centuries ago. All that survives is the ship's manifest, which lists it only as the portrait of a man. Patric's character is a perfectionist. What man? What face? Then he remember his father [Rod Stieger], a failed artist, and begins by using his father's eyes. As the cameras twist and rotate madly around the artist, the portrait magically begins to take form. This whole section of the movie is much more intense than I can make it sound.
When the painting is finished, Patric's real problems begin. He really should have turned those nasty art dealers down. Here begins the treachery and deceit any thriller must have.
"Incognito" was filmed with great attention to detail in and around London, Paris and Amsterdam.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Last - A Different Storyline, July 21, 2003
The story of a insecure young painter, son of a noted artist, who is nevertheless a master art forger. A legend in forgery circles at a young age, he is approached by men who want him to forge a painting that has never been seen before - one rumored to have been painted by the Dutch master, Rembrandt.
I enjoyed this movie because, at age 56, I've seen almost every movie storyline there is 20 times or more and there is little interest to be held by storylines that are so predictable. The way Patric's likeable character went about forging the painting was fascinating..... how do you cheat scientific analysis of the canvas and oils in the painting that, if authenticated, could be worth 10 or 20 million dollars?
A movie to watch and enjoy, it will force your mind to "think" for at least a few minutes - unlike the majority of the pablum cherned out by Hollywood these day. A great "little" movie - a keeper in my estimation.
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