NARRATOLOGY - Scream (1997)

The Theory:

Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted.[citation needed] It is an anglicisation of French narratologie, coined by Tzvetan Todorov (Grammaire du Décaméron, 1969). Narratology is applied retrospectively as well to work predating its coinage. Its theoretical lineage is traceable to Aristotle (Poetics) but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian Formalists, particularly Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928).

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratology)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(film)

High school student Casey Becker receives a flirtatious phone call from an unknown person, asking her, "What's your favorite scary movie?" The situation quickly escalates out of control as the caller turns sadistic and threatens her life. He reveals that her boyfriend Steve is being held hostage. After failing to answer a question correctly about horror films, Steve is murdered. When Casey refuses to cooperate with the caller, she is attacked and murdered by a masked killer, and her body is hung from a tree.

The following day, the news media descend on the town and a police investigation begins. Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott struggles with the impending one-year anniversary of her mother's murder by Cotton Weary. While waiting at home for her friend Tatum Riley, Sidney receives a threatening phone call. After she hangs up, she is attacked by the killer. Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis arrives and offers support, but after he drops his cell phone Sidney suspects him of making the call. She flees. Billy is arrested and Tatum takes Sidney to her house.

Billy is released the next day. Suspicion has shifted to Sidney's father Neil Prescott, as the calls have been traced to his phone. School is suspended in the wake of the murders. After the students have left the school, Principal Himbry is stabbed to death in his office. Billy's friend Stu Macher throws a party to celebrate the school closure. The party is attended by Sidney, Tatum, their friend Randy Meeks, and several other students. Reporter Gale Weathers attends uninvited to cover the situation, as she expects the killer to strike. Deputy sheriff Dewey Riley also looks out for murder at the party. Tatum is killed during the party after having her head crushed by a garage door. Billy arrives to speak to Sidney privately, and the two ultimately consummate their relationship. Dewey and Gale investigate a nearby abandoned car. Many party attendees are drawn away after hearing news of Himbry's death; Randy, Sidney, Billy, Stu, and Gale's cameraman Kenny remain.

After having sex, Sidney and Billy are attacked by the killer, who seemingly murders Billy. Sidney escapes the killer and seeks help from Kenny, but he gets his throat slit by the killer. Sidney again flees. Gale and Dewey, having discovered the car belongs to Neil Prescott, return to the house. They believe Neil is the killer and has come to the party to continue his spree. Gale attempts to leave the scene in her van but drives off-road and crashes to avoid hitting Sidney. Meanwhile, Dewey is stabbed in the back while investigating in the house. Sidney takes Dewey's gun. Stu and Randy appear and accuse each other of being the killer. Sidney retreats into the house, where she finds Billy, wounded but still alive. She gives Billy the gun; he lets Randy into the house and then shoots him. Billy has feigned his injuries and is actually the killer; Stu is his accomplice.

Billy and Stu discuss their plan to kill Sidney and frame her father—whom they have taken hostage—for their murder spree. The pair admit to being the killers of her mother, Maureen. Billy says he was motivated to seek revenge on Maureen because of an affair she was having with Billy's father, Hank, which drove his mother away. Gale, thought dead by the killers, intervenes. Sidney takes advantage of this to turn the tables on her attackers, killing Stu. Randy is revealed to be wounded but alive. Billy attacks Sidney but she shoots him through the head, killing him. As the sun rises and police arrive, a badly injured Dewey is taken away by ambulance and Gale makes an impromptu news report about the night's events.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(film))

The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://daveandhiscriticisms.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/scream.jpg

"Scream" follows a group of teens as they rally to uncover the killer behind the mask responsible for a string of murders in their town. "Scream" was declared revolutionary for its time by introducing a cast of characters that were self-aware and had sufficient knowledge about horror movies. Their knowledge, in the film, helps them determine the next move the killer might make, and this quickly turns a stereotypical slasher flick into a clever whodunit with thinking characters and a smart plot line. The movie was considered a major turning point in the horror genre for having big names and smart personalities. It broke free from the conventions and decided to make an entirely original product still grounded on the concept of slasher films and movie trivia. Generations of horror fans will always treat "Scream" as a game-changer, proof that a horror movie can be scary, gory, fun and intriguing, all at the same time.

LOGOCENTRISM - Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Hush

The Theory:

Logocentrism is a term coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s. It refers to the tradition of "Western" science and philosophy that situates the logos, ‘the word’ or the ‘act of speech’, as epistemologically superior in a system, or structure, in which we may only know, or be present in, the world by way of a logocentric metaphysics. For this structure to hold true it must be assumed that there is an original, irreducible object to which the logos is representative, and therefore, that our presence in the world is necessarily mediated. If there is a Platonic Ideal Form then there must be an ideal representation of such a form. This ideal representation is according to logocentrist thought, the logos.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logocentrism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090118185150/buffy/images/5/51/410_Hush.jpg

During a college lecture where Dr. Walsh is discussing the difference between language and communication, Buffy has a dream in which Riley kisses her. They are interrupted by a young girl holding a distinctive box, singing a cryptic rhyme about "The Gentlemen". Riley and Buffy speak after class and they almost kiss, but are unable to stop talking. They leave when it becomes awkward. Buffy calls Giles to tell him of her dream and the details of the little girl's rhyme.
At Giles' apartment Xander and Anya argue, as Anya is trying to get Xander to tell her what she means to him. He is unable to answer her. Willow attends a meeting of the campus Wicca group, hoping to meet others who share her interest in studying witchcraft, but is disappointed when they only talk about bake sales. Willow raises the subject of spells but is chastised for pandering to the stereotype about witches performing magic. A shy woman in the group named Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) starts to speak up to support Willow's suggestion, but falls silent when the attention turns to her.
That night, as Sunnydale sleeps, white wisps float from each person's mouth to a belfry, where they settle in the box from Buffy's dream as ghoulish skeletal figures with metallic-toothed grimaces and impeccable black suits look on. In the morning, Buffy and Willow discover they are unable to speak and become visibly distressed; they soon discover that everybody is unable to speak. The group gathers at Giles' where they see that the news is reporting that Sunnydale is suffering from an epidemic of laryngitis. Buffy and Riley, each concerned that chaos will ensue, find each other attempting to keep order on the streets. They exchange a look and then have their first kiss before parting to continue their efforts.
The next night, the ghouls leave the belfry and float into town accompanied by their straitjacketed, deformed minions. They knock on the door of a student. When he opens it, aroused from sleeping, they hold him down and carve out his heart while he tries in vain to scream. At Giles' apartment his visiting girlfriend, Olivia, is frightened by one of The Gentlemen outside Giles' window. The following morning in a campus classroom, Giles uses a series of overhead transparencies to explain to the others that The Gentlemen steal the townspeople's voices so no one can scream as they gather the hearts they need, and that folklore indicates that they have been vanquished before when a princess screamed—the only thing that will kill them is a live human voice.
That evening, Anya falls asleep on Giles' sofa while Spike takes a mugful of blood from the refrigerator. Xander enters Giles' apartment as Spike, his mouth wet with blood, bends down to pick up something that he dropped in front of the sofa where Anya sleeps. Inferring that Spike bit and drank from Anya, Xander pummels him ferociously until Anya wakes and stops him; excited that he fought to defend her, Anya gestures that they go home for sex.
On her own Tara finds a spell to help the town get its voices back, and goes out to show it to Willow. On the way to Willow's dorm she trips, turns around and sees The Gentlemen floating toward her. In Willow's dorm she frantically knocks on doors which no one will open; The Gentlemen steadily pursue her. Willow hears Tara's panicked knocking down the hall and exits her room as Tara sprints into her, sending them both tumbling. They lock themselves into a laundry room and try to barricade the door with a vending machine, but it is too heavy for them to move. Willow, injured, sits and concentrates on moving the machine with telekinesis; she fails, but Tara sees what she is doing. They clasp hands and the machine moves swiftly across the room, blocking the door.
On patrol, Riley notices shadows in the belfry and goes to investigate. Buffy finds two of The Gentlemen's minions, kills one and runs after the other. Riley fights his way into the belfry and while he's embattled, Buffy crashes through a window, fighting. He turns to attack and finds himself face to face with Buffy. She fights while he stares, unmoving. When a minion pins her down she sees and recognizes the box from her dream and gesticulates wildly for Riley to destroy it. When he does so, the stolen voices escape. Buffy screams until the heads of The Gentlemen and their minions explode.
The next day, Tara tells Willow she is special and has significant power. Riley comes to visit Buffy in her dorm room and they sit facing each other, saying nothing.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer))



The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://hardinthecity.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/buffy-hush-the-gentlemen.jpg

"Hush" explores issues relating to the limits and benefits of language and communication. During the first act of the episode, the characters are presented as being overwhelmed by language that is misused, used as white noise, and employed as a means of avoiding truth. This depicts an abuse in the usage of language, and the misuse of it is contrasted with striking silence once the second act commences. The characters are shown to be very vulnerable and helpless without a solid means of communication, and throughout the episode, they are shown to attempt various ways to establish dialogue and understanding among themselves. This scenario further emphasizes the importance of language as a communication device and its indispensability in today's society.

DARWINISM - King Kong (2005)

The Theory:

Darwinian Literary Studies (aka Literary Darwinism) is a branch of literary criticism that studies literature in the context of evolution by means of natural selection, including gene-culture coevolution. It represents an emerging trend of neo-Darwinian thought in intellectual disciplines beyond those traditionally considered as evolutionary biology: evolutionary psychology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, affective neuroscience, behavioural genetics, evolutionary epistemology, and other such disciplines.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_literary_studies)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Kingkong_bigfinal1.jpg

In the autumn of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression in New York City, Ann Darrow has lost her job as a vaudeville actress but is hired by troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to act in his new film. Ann signs on when she learns her favorite playwright, Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. As their tramp steamer SS Venture sails to the mysterious Skull Island, Ann and Jack fall in love. Captain Englehorn begins to have second thoughts following the fears of his crew about Skull Island and its strange creatures that have evolved apart from the outside world. Deep in the southern seas the Venture receives a radio message from its owners informing Englehorn about an arrest warrant for Carl and instructing him to divert to Rangoon. Despite his attempt to turn around, the ship is lost in fog and runs aground on rocks encircling Skull Island.
Carl and his crew explore the island to film and are attacked by vicious natives. The sound technician and one of the sailors are killed, and Jack is knocked unconscious. Ann screams as she is captured, and a roar beyond the wall responds. The matriarch of the tribe vows to sacrifice her to "Kong", a 25 ft. (8 m) tall gorilla. Englehorn and his crew break up the attack and return to the stranded ship. They lighten their load to float off the rocks and carry out repairs to the hull, but Jack discovers Ann has been kidnapped. On the island, Ann is hung from a primitive drawbridge on the side of the wall. The crew comes armed, but is too late as Kong takes Ann into the jungle. As time passes in her captivity, Ann wins over Kong with juggling and dancing, and begins to grasp Kong's intelligence and capacity for emotion.
Englehorn organizes a rescue party led by Hayes. The rescue party is caught up in a Venatosaurus saevidicus pack's hunt of Brontosaurus baxteri, and the cameraman is killed along with three sailors. The rest of the rescue party come across a swamp where Bruce Baxter and two others leave the group. While making their way across a giant fallen log, Kong arrives and attacks the rescue party. Hayes is killed and the rest of the crew are shaken off the log into a ravine. Kong returns to Ann and rescues her from three Vastatosaurus rex, then takes her to his mountain lair. Englehorn and the rest of the crew save what is left of the rescue party from a pit of giant insects, and as Jack continues searching for Ann, Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack goes to Kong's lair, inadvertently waking him. As Kong fights a swarm of flying Terapusmordax, Ann and Jack escape by grabbing the wing of one of the bat-like rodents and then jumping into a river. They arrive at the village wall with the angry Kong following them, and Ann becomes distraught by what Carl plans to do. Kong bursts through the gate and struggles to get her back, but is knocked out by chloroform.
In New York, in the late winter of 1933, Carl presents a chained Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann has become an anonymous chorus girl. Camera flashes from photographers enrage the gorilla. Kong breaks free from his chrome-steel chains and chases Jack across town, where Kong encounters Ann again. Kong and Ann share a quiet moment on a frozen lake in Central Park before the army attacks. Kong climbs with Ann onto the dome of the Empire State Building, where he fights off a flight of six Curtiss Falcon fighter planes sent to attack him, downing three. Kong is hit by several bursts of gunfire, and gazes at Ann for the last time before dying and falling from the building. Ann is greeted by Jack as reporters gather around Kong's carcass. Carl takes a last look and says, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(2005_film))



The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Andy_Serkis_-_King_Kong.jpg

"King Kong" is mainly set on Skull Island, a fictitious island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Skull Island is an island wherein the wildlife is comprised mainly of prehistoric creatures such as fierce dinosaurs, grotesque gigantic worms, and enormous insects, among many others. The setting was supposed to depict an island that was so isolated from civilization that the wildlife evolved in the 65 million years they were separated from the rest of the world. As a result, the T-rexes don't resemble their common counterparts, the insects have grown to disturbingly large sizes, the worms have developed a taste for flesh, and Kong grew over 25 feet tall. These are results of an evolutionary process that allowed them to survive their weak ancestors and adapt to their surroundings as the creatures constantly face an eat-or-be-eaten situation.

ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM - A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Theory:

Archetypal literary criticism is a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes (from the Greek archē, or beginning, and typos, or imprint) in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types in a literary work. As a form of literary criticism, it dates back to 1934 when Maud Bodkin published Archetypal Patterns in Poetry.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetypal_literary_criticism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/A_Journey_to_the_Centre_of_the_Earth-1874.jpg

The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans descend into an extinct Icelandic volcano, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Journey_to_the_Centre_of_the_Earth)



The Criticism:

"A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" falls under Archetypal Criticism because it observes many science-fiction archetypes. A person who believes in an assumption previously disregarded and helmed as a fallacy tries to prove its authenticity, usually with a partner or a friend, and ends up discovering the truth and embarking on an adventure to return home or survive. In this case, the adventure is spiced up by increasingly astounding discoveries and exceedingly alarming dangers that they encounter every step of the way to return to the surface.

MORAL CRITICISM: Losing Isaiah by Seth Margolis

The Theory:

Literary critics who use the school of Moral Criticism (known in contemporary critical circles as Christian Humanism) as their "lens" from which to view and examine the worthiness or quality of literature do the following:

1. Judge the value of the literature on its moral lesson or ethical teaching

A. Literature that that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised
B. Literature that misguides and/or corrupts is condemned

2. Works that are moral (or literature that attempts to teach and instruct as well as entertain) are often seen in contemporary criticism as didactic. 

3. Plato argues that literature (and art) is capable of corrupting or influencing people to act or behave in various ways. Sometimes these themes, subject matter, or the actions of literary characters undermine religion or ethics, he warns. Aristotle and Horace both believed that literature can instruct as well as corrupt. So care must be taken when writing or reading. This idea is picked up later by Samuel Johnson and Matthew Arnold who see literature as a good way to teach morality and probe philosophical ideas. The underlying principle then is whether or not the text can be seen as A) moral, and B) practical or useful.

(courtesy of: http://aplitsota.blogspot.com/2010/11/moral-criticism.html)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.tcit.com.au/parkleabooks/2628.JPG

Margaret Lewin loves her adoptive son, Isaiah, even more passionately than she does her natural daughter, Hannah, probably because of the unique, magical way Isaiah joined the family. A volunteer baby-holder in a Manhattan hospital, whose job was to lavish physical affection on abandoned, drug-addicted infants, Margaret fell in love with tiny Isaiah's determination to get what he needed--first through unceasing screaming, and now, at nearly three, through tantrums that could cause Attila the Hun to cower. Leaving Isaiah to the care of a children's center and an au pair while she pursues her career as a photographer's representative (and her husband, Charles, pursues a leggy female employee at his own graphic-arts company), Margaret alternately worries over possible lingering aftereffects from Isaiah's prenatal drug addiction and swoons in relief at having rescued the little boy from life with a crack-addicted, illiterate, utterly negligent mother. Little does Margaret know that over the past two years Isaiah's mother, Selma Richards, has found religion, weaned herself from drugs, and obtained a job as a nanny on the Upper East Side in the fierce hope of reclaiming her lost son. When Selma files suit for custody, the lives of all concerned begin to crumble in the cruel light of media coverage, while the best interests of Isaiah himself are nearly forgotten in the clash of emotions.

(courtesy of: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/seth-margolis/losing-isaiah/)



The Criticism:

"Losing Isaiah" centers on two women who are both fighting for the custody over a child named Isaiah. One mother can raise him up but is hesitant, while the other wants to raise him up but can't. The women have their personal issues but are both willing to raise Isaiah as their own son, but it is their fight over him that's causing damage.
The novel pays attention to a dilemma no parent wants to face: the fear of losing your child. The novel has a very strong resounding message of acceptance and change. It is not all time that things will go your way; sometimes, it is you yourself who has to get in the way of things.

GENRE CRITICISM: Grave Encounters (2011)

The Theory:

Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analysing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community. By grouping artifacts with others of similar formal features or rhetorical exigencies, rhetorical critics can shed light on how authors use or flout conventions in order to meet their needs. Genre criticism has thus become one of the main methodologies within rhetorical criticism.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_criticism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/grave-encounters-Smaller.jpg

The film begins with the producer of Grave Encounters explaining to the public as to why "Grave Encounters", a famous tv show, suddenly got cancelled, via found video footage. The footage shows the crew of Grave Encounters — composed of Lance Preston, occult specialist Sasha Parker, technical expert Matt White, cameraman T. C. Gibson, and guest-starring psychic medium Houston Grey - preparing to investigate the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. They receive a tour of Collingwood and its underground tunnels and also learn about Collingwood's history, including a physician named Arthur Friedkin, who performed unethical experiments and lobotomies on the hospital patients before being killed by escaped patients; Friedkin was never arrested for his actions due to lack of evidence of the accusations. The crew voluntarily lock themselves inside Collingwood for the night (The caretaker chains the main entrance from the outside) and begin their investigation, setting up camp in the hospital lobby near the entrance. Lance and his crew try to establish contact with the unseen entities responsible, and although they are initially unsuccessful, they are eventually tormented by hauntings, which become increasingly hostile.

With half an hour left before the hospital caretaker comes to unlock the front doors, the crew starts packing. Matt goes to retrieve the cameras, but disappears. The others spend the next several hours looking for Matt, with the caretaker not arriving. Desperate, they knock down the front doors to escape, only to discover it leads to another corridor, as do several other "exit" doors they find. They notice that it is still night outside when it should be daylight. They spend the day sleeping, and find that their food is infested with fully grown maggots. After searching for more exits and trying to escape to the roof, the stairwell mysteriously ends with a solid wall blocking the entrance to the top floor. They hear screaming and run towards it, thinking it is Matt. They enter a room with a metal bed frame, which moves and then levitates. Soon after, they document Sasha's back, which now has a disturbing message carved into it saying "hello." The crew continues searching for both Matt and an exit when they encounter a girl whose face contorts demonically. The crew flees in fear, but Houston is separated from the others and later violently assaulted by an unseen force, killing him. While resting, the others find hospital tags bearing their names on their wrists. They eventually find Matt, who is wearing a hospital gown and has been driven insane, mumbling nonsense about his apparent psychological disorder, and explaining that the only way for them to escape is for them to "get better" at the hands of the hospital's unseen residents.

The crew continues to be chased through the hospital by several apparitions. T. C. is pulled into a bathtub filled with blood by a ghost while trying to save Matt and disappears, while Matt kills himself by jumping off an elevator shaft to his death as Lance and Sasha are attacked by a tongueless demon. Lance and Sasha enter the tunnels in search of another exit where Sasha, who has become violently ill, disappears in a mist that appears while she and Lance sleep. Terrified and insane, Lance continues through the tunnels alone, surviving by killing and eating rats, until he finds a door leading to Friedkin's operating room that contains an altar and pentagram for a demonic ritual, showing that Friedkin had used black magic for medical practice. He turns to see the apparitions of Friedkin and several nurses, who drag a screaming Lance onto their operating table. The camera blanks out for a moment before showing a lobotomized Lance, who says he is now "better" and allowed to go home, and gives a few parting words to the audience before the screen cuts to blue.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_Encounters)

The Criticism:

"Grave Encouters" can be classified as a horror movie if we are going to review it based on the definition of a horror movie and the definition of genre criticism. A horror movie needs to be scary and atmospheric, and must induce negative reactions of fear and disgust among its audience, For these reasons, "Grave Encounters" can be classified as a horror movie because the setting is superb, the atmosphere is very heavy, scares both suspenseful and startling are aplenty, and fearful reactions are definitely induced. In cases like this, genre criticism is very useful in determining the effectiveness of pieces to watch or books to read depending on what genre they are categorized.

MODERNISM - Identity Thief (2013)

The Theory:

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement in the arts, its set of cultural tendencies and associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I, were among the factors that shaped Modernism. Related terms are modern, modernist, contemporary, and postmodern.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.movieguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/identity-thief-uk-one-sheet-poster.jpg

Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) gets a call from a woman saying someone attempted to steal his identity. She tells him about an identity protection service and asks him for his name, date of birth, and social security number. Little does he know that his identity is actually about to be stolen.
We meet Diana (Melissa McCarthy), printing out credit cards with Sandy's money and going out to a bar, buying drinks for everybody.
At work, Sandy gets called in by his boss, Harold Cornish (Jon Favreau), and he asks him to make cuts on bonuses, despite the fact that he is getting a bonus himself. As Sandy goes to do so, he gets a call saying he has an appointment at a salon on Friday in Florida. He's confused, but he gets called over by his co-worker Daniel Casey (John Cho). In the parking lot, he and a few other co-workers meet to discuss starting their own firm since their boss is not the greatest person. Daniel asks Sandy if he'll join them, to which he agrees.
A little while later, Sandy tries to get gas, but his card is declined for insufficient funds and the gas station clerk cuts it up. He calls the credit card company and he's told he's spent a lot of money in Florida. As this happens, he gets arrested. At the same time in Florida, Diana continues splurging with Sandy's money.
At a police station, Detective Reilly (Morris Chestnut) tells Sandy that he missed a court date in Florida for assault. They pull up a mug shot of Diana and determine she's stolen Sandy's identity. It gets worse at work when Daniel (now his boss) says cops are asking about him possessing drugs. Reilly and other cops show up and say a card with Sandy's name was used to buy drugs from a man named Paolo. When told they can't do anything unless the identity thief was standing there in Denver with them, Sandy (knowing where he can find her) offers to go on his own and bring her there and get her to talk to Daniel to clear his name and that he won't press charges.
Trish (Amanda Peet), Sandy's wife, finds out about the situation and knows Sandy's taking a risk, but he assures her he'll get the job done. He ends up in Florida and finds Diana at the salon where she made an appointment and follows her. After confronting her on the road she manages to steal his rental car. He obtains her address through registration in her abandoned car and goes to Diana's house, which is full of merchandise and other stolen credit cards. The pair scuffle and Sandy attempts to handcuff her. Before he can cuff her, two people named Marisol (Genesis Rodriguez) and Julian (T.I.) are pounding at the door, telling Diana she gave Paolo some bad credit cards. They shoot the door open, but Sandy and Diana escape.
Sandy tells Diana about his plan to redeem his name and Diana agrees to go along with him. Meanwhile a bounty hunter known as Skiptracer (Robert Patrick) is dispatched to track down Diana to obtain a substantial bounty. On the road, Diana reminds Sandy that the people at the airport would have an issue with both of their ID's reading "Sandy Bigelow Patterson", so flying back is out of the question and they must return to Denver by driving.
After traveling through several states, Skiptracer catches up to the pair and captures Diana. A chase ensues and she knocks him unconscious, and Sandy rams his van off the road. When he gets out to check on Diana, a truck plows into his rental car, totaling it. They take Skiptracer's van with him tied to the back, but it overheats on the road. They end up walking and almost stop to rest in the woods, but they encounter several snakes, one of which ends up in Sandy's pants, which he takes off and throws away. Another snake bites Sandy's neck and Diana accidentally knocks him unconscious while trying to beat the snake.
Sandy wakes up at a bus station in new pants with no money and no phone. He asks how they got there, and Diana says she carried him half a mile until she flagged down a truck to take them there. Unfortunately, the next bus to Denver doesn't come for another three days. Sandy finds some money in his socks and is told by a guy who works at the station about a place to find a cheap car. When they stop for gas and realize they need more money, Diana asks if there's anyone Sandy would like to get back at, and he thinks of one person - Harold Cornish.
Knowing that there is someone who handles his finances, the two of them sneak into an accounting firm and coax an accounts processor into giving them access into restricted files, and they steal Cornish's identity to create new credit cards. The accounts processor realizes this too late as they are fleeing.
Meanwhile, Skiptracer goes to the bus station and threatens the employee unless he tells him where to find Diana. He then gets shot by Marisol who, along with Julian has been tracking the pair throughout their journey. Having overheard Skiptracer's conversation they continue to pursue Sandy and Diane.
Sandy and Diana finally arrive in St. Louis and stop at a hotel and Diana spends more money than necessary. She gets a makeover and has dinner with Sandy. Things get heated when he asks Diana what her real name is, but she admits she doesn't know it. She cries as she tells him that nobody cared about her when she grew up, so she doesn't even have her own identity. She then says she lied about that just as the accounts processor comes in with cops, who arrest both Sandy and Diana. As they're being escorted, they run into Marisol and Julian. Marisol calls Paolo, who tells her to follow Diana and kill her. That's when Skiptracer arrives and shoots the two thugs in the legs and throws them in the trunk of their car.
Diana manages to uncuff herself as she's in the back of the police car, and then breaks the back windshield and escapes, just as Skiptracer hits the police car. Sandy gets out as well and Skiptracer nearly hits him, but Diana pushes him out of the way and gets rammed by the car, which causes Skiptracer to swerve off. As Sandy and Diana run away, Skiptracer is arrested along with Marisol and Julian.
Diana is not injured from being hit by a car, and she and Sandy eventually make it home, where they are greeted by Trish and their daughters. Diana has dinner with Sandy's family and reconciles with them.
The next morning, Sandy is prepared to tell Diana that he'll go in alone to the station, but she's gone. She left a note saying sorry. He goes into work, preparing to quit, but Daniel shows him that Diana is meeting with the police in an office. Detective Reilly tells Sandy he is no longer part of the investigation and Diana is taken away in cuffs. Before she leaves, Sandy has a moment with her and asks her why, and she says she knew he wouldn't turn her in, but it was the right thing to do for her to do it herself.
One year later, Sandy is celebrating another birthday, this time with his third kid joining them. The family goes to visit Diana in prison, where she's doing well taking some exams. As Trish takes the girls outside, Sandy presents Diana with a birth certificate of hers that he was able to find and it's revealed that Diana's true name is Dawn Budgie, which she thinks is not an appealing name. They laugh and Diana goes back in as Sandy leaves.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_Thief)



The Criticism:

"Identity Thief" portrays the conundrum that ensues when a man has his identity stolen by another person, a woman posing as him. A scene like this represents the modern thought of humans who will do everything to survive. The fake Sandy Patterson uses her newly-acquired identity to splurge and indulge as she pleases. The real Sandy Patterson desperately tries to take back his identity from her. This shows a modern world that contains modern characters with modern mindsets and beliefs.