Matt Damon and Ben Affleck broke into movies at the same time, and they will always be thought of together because of Good Will Hunting. It has been interesting watching their careers blossom. Damon is the better actor, in my not-so-humble opinion. Their career choices have been interesting, to say the least. Affleck seemed intent on becoming a leading man, along the same lines as Harrison Ford. He did indifferent action movies (Reindeer Games) and romantic comedies (Forces of Nature). When he chose a big-time franchise to inhabit, he chose Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, starting with this year's The Sum of All Fears. Damon has chosen artier, quieter movies. He was brilliant in The Talented Mr. Ripley, suitably morose and intense in All the Pretty Horses. Don't ask me why he did The Legend of Bagger Vance. When he chose a big-time action franchise, he chose the smarter, better-written Rober Ludlum Jason Bourne series. I'm not really surprised.

All of this being an irrelevant leadup to my praise of this film as an intelligent, well-acted popcorn movie, a little smarter and more sly than most summer offerings. Damon plays Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin who loses his memory after being shot and dumped into the Meditteranean. He is rescued and heads off to Berlin, because the only clue he has to his identity is a gadget implanted in his hip that bears the account number to a bank there. He finds a safety deposit box full of fake passports, all of them bearing his face with different names and nationalities, a gun, and a pile of money. He also finds that the authorities—all of them—are out to get him. He pays Marie, a gypsy girl played by Run Lola Run's adorable and sexy (we had a conversation about her equal and complementing qualities of being cute and "hot") Franka Potente, to drive him to Paris. He still doesn't remember who he is, but he knows that someone wants him dead, as well as the fact that he has James Bond-level skills of fighting, memory, and other cool spy tricks.

Meanwhile, back in the US, his boss, played by Chris Cooper, is in hot water because Bourne was carrying out an illegal assassination on a flamboyant African politician when he disappeared without a trace. Cooper's role is a tad thankless, because it tends to consist of him pacing around in front of a bank of computers and yelling orders. Brian Cox plays the slimy chief who might have to explain what is going on to a Senate hearing, but would rather the problem be cleaned up with all speed. Bourne and Franka have to elude the police, the CIA, and a host of expert assassins while trying to figure out who he is and what he is supposed to be doing. Meanwhile, they have time for a cute courtship and a love interest that doesn't seem all that tacked on.

This is a quality action movie, as I said. Doug Liman, best known for his breakthrough Swingers, handles himself in an unfamiliar genre well. The camera work is great, especially in Bourne's early fight scenes. The camera is jittery and the editing discordant, and we feel along with Bourne the unfamiliarity and scariness of suddenly realizing that he's an expert fighter. The pacing of the film is perfect, never bogging down in the many details but never feeling like it is rushing toward the finale. There were some scenes that provoked impressed applause from the audience, always a good sign. The dialog is also smart and informed, blissfully free of many action movie cliches. Damon and Potente make a great pair: I can't think of two more expressive faces, and both of them bring depth to their roles that might have been missing with typical action movie stars. This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, but it had been long enough for me to have forgotten a lot of the details, so I wasn't disappointed by any omissions or additions.