Stealing someone’s identity or changing your identity without informing the authorities is not a walk in the park. However, Hollywood movies make us believe the opposite and most importantly, it makes the whole concept of identity thefts as the coolest thing on the planet.
Yes, I may sound a bit unlawful, but admit it that we all wish to change our identity from the original to something else, either for fun or as an undercover agent or something else. Now, it is hard to say if this concept of movies based on identity thefts or mistaken identities was encouraged because of this desire or the desire was born among after we watched these cool movies.
But, that doesn’t matter as the concept is already entertaining us for a while now and considering the new trend of Sci-Fi action flicks, this concept is here to stay for a long time. So, without cutting any more crap, let us go through the list of the best Hollywood movies featuring the concept of mistaken identities or identity thefts.
Table of Contents
Best Hollywood Movies on Identity Theft
Face/Off
Talking about mistaken identity, the first film that comes to my attention is Face/Off. Now, most of the identity theft or mistaken identity movies are about documentation and paperwork, while the film Face/Off takes a giant leap when the plot demands a change of identity through plastic surgery. Yes, you heard that right! The main lead of the movie, the characters of John Travolta and Nicholas Cage go through extensive plastic surgery in order to exchange their identity. As far as I know, that’s never done before in the movies, which is why we put Face/Off on top of the list.
The Net
While Face/Off focused around the change of identities, The Net is a 1995 cyber-action thriller about identity theft. Angela Bennett, portrayed by Sandra Bullock, works as a systems analyst from Venice, California. However, she is a very private person and doesn’t interact with anybody in person, but only online or through the phone. One day, when she comes across a disk from her colleague, she encounters a lot of problems endangering her life as well as losing her identity altogether. Now, she must face all her fears by herself and regain what’s hers. The Net is one of the best films on Hacking.
The Great Dictator
One of the best Charlie Chaplin movies of all time and an inspirational one for sure is The Great Dictator. The film tells the story of a common man, who looks exactly like The Dictator, both played by Chaplin. The look of The Dictator in the movie is undoubtedly inspired by Adolf Hitler and hence attracted a lot of controversies from the Nazis. The film gets interesting when the roles get switched and the common man takes the identity of The Dictator. The best part about the movie is the speech delivered by the common man as The Dictator at the end of the film.
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Identity is the first installment in the Bourne film series based on Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novel series. The film tells the story of a spy named Jason Bourne, who has lost his memory, but is convinced that he is a man with extraordinary skills and many different identities. While uncovering his true identity and his past, he must face other trained assassins like him. Directed by Doug Liman, the film stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.
The Dictator
The Dictator is a 2012 Hollywood Comedy Film Directed by Larry Charles, starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley. The Dictator is the story of the Great Dictator of Wadiya Aladeen. He is rich and powerful, but his uncle tries to kill him and his identity stolen, now he wants his identity and life back. Film has many funny moments and some great scenes. If you are not good at taking humor then this film might offend you. There are many racial comments in the film.
Shutter Island
Starring Leonardo Dicaprio in the most challenging role ever, Shutter Island is a psychological thriller film that grips you to the storyline and gets you confused all the way and by the time you realize what’s going on, your brain is already exhausted. The film talks about roleplaying and switching identities to an extent, which it is difficult to point out the real and the unreal. Shutter Island is a must watch for all those psychological thriller fans and gets ready to burst your mind while you’re up to it.
Dave
Dave is a 1993 comedy-drama film that takes mistaken identity to a whole new level. A look-alike of the United States President named Dave is asked to fill in for the President until he recovers from the coma. However, the White House Chief of Staff has conspired some evil plans of his own to become the next President of the United States. Now, it’s all up to Dave to undo the wrongdoings of the real President and use his time as the President to help the people of the United States.
