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THE MOVIE: The Bourne Ultimatum

THE STARS:
Matt Damon • Joan Allen • Julia Stiles • David Strathairn
DIRECTOR: Paul Greengrass

THE CONCEPT:
Matt Damon stars in the final movie of the Bourne trilogy, returning as trained assassin Jason Bourne, as he finally tracks down the truth of his identity.

U.S. RELEASE: August 3 2007, Nationwide
• Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

PAUL GREENGRASS:
“Jason Bourne knows so much more than he did when he was fished out of the water at the start of Identity, he didn’t even know what his name was. He didn’t even know he’d been in the CIA, now he’s gone through two movies and the character you find in Ultimatum still has the full range of his skills. He’s down the road towards finding the answers to his quest, but he knows he faces formidable adversaries who will probably never be beaten. Somewhere Matt manages to convey that, and it crackles with contemporariness.”

MATT DAMON:
“With the fighting there was a huge difference this time. The first movie I was 29, and this last one I was 36, and I definitely felt my age. And particularly because in the big fight scene in Tangier, Joey, the guy I’m fighting, is 23 years old. When the first movie came out he was in high school. And so he was so happy, he was like, ‘Mate, I’m in a Bourne fight, this is great!’ And he’s in really good shape; he’s already a much better athlete than me. So I was like, ‘Oh, man, Joey, you’re killing me. You’ve gotta slow down.’ And so it took probably a couple of extra days, because I’m a little older now.”

GREENGRASS:
“Joan [Allen] brings a cool, cerebral intelligence to Pamela Landy. You feel her watchfulness; she anchors the CIA side of the story.”

JOAN ALLEN:
“[Landy] is brought back to help search for Bourne, because she is, in some ways, an expert on him. He’s a mystery to her, and she has compassion for him, but wants to solve the mystery of what happened to him. It is a world of spying, lying and secrets, but Pamela has a strong sense of ethical responsibility within that framework.”

JULIA STILES (Nicky Parsons):
“When I told my friends that I was going to shoot The Bourne Ultimatum in Morocco, the first question out of their mouths was, ‘Do Jason Bourne and Nicky get together?’ because there always has to be a female love interest. What I love is that Paul breaks those conventions. Also, Jason Bourne’s loved one, Marie, was killed in the second film. So, we didn’t really want to have him fall in love with somebody else so quickly. I like that Paul leaves a lot of questions unanswered in terms of storytelling. I answered it in my head – I think they either had a relationship, or she pines after him but can’t bring it up because he doesn’t remember anything.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

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Images above © Universal Pictures
Feature © 2007 Visual Imagination Limited.
Not for reproduction.

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