Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) has a nasty case of amnesia after being plucked unconscious out of the Mediterranean Sea, but it's not long until he discovers that he was a trained assassin for the CIA. One problem, though: he's now marked for death from the very organization he used to work for. With the unexpected assistance of a Swiss woman (Franka Potente, in a surprisingly strong performance), whom he pays $20,000 for a ride to Paris, Bourne struggles to regain memory of his past while trying to stay alive. The solid screenplay based on the late Robert Ludlum's bestselling 1980 novel by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron is well crafted and finely paced, complete with solid dialogue and some great action sequences, such as what turns out to be one of the film's best scenes: a thrilling car chase with a Cooper Mini (!) through the streets of Paris, which is accented with great cinematography and music by Paul Oakenfold. "Bourne" is a most refreshing alternative that distances itself from the nonsense that's been clogging theaters all year. If Damon surgically removed himself from Ben Affleck, he'd be a worldwide phenomenon after movies like this. 8.5/10