The best, most thoughtful, most fun part of this effort from Gary Fleder based on a 1953 Philip Dick novel is that technology might become so advanced (or alien) that one might not even know one's identity as friend or enemy. And if one doesn't even know, then what kind of enemy is that? Rather sadly, in a way, this point is made very strongly in a quite early (and quite memorable) scene in "Impostor", and we don't really recapture those heady heights until the last 5 minutes. It's no secret (or even spoiler) that much of the film is devoted to having us wonder if our hero is ... or isn't. Simultaneously, we've got a routine-ish "fugitive on the run" movie, if one made reasonably compelling by the solid performance of Gary Sinese as Spencer Olham, as well as certain futuristic touches giving us the odd insight into the world in 2079. But since this is all taking place in a (very) long-distance (and pretty technologically implausible) war between Earth and Alpha Centauri that has necessitated far-reaching changes on our home planet, this reviewer at least felt regularly distracted by a yearning to home in more on that kind of topic (nicely rendered in "Starship Troopers"), as opposed to wondering whether Olham is going to manage to get through this door, slip down that dark and gloomy tunnel (much of this film is in over-subdued lighting), or find some other way to evade the next detector device. Maybe the small story illustrates the bigger picture, but here we have only hints of the latter, which we'd certainly like more of. What is quite interesting is interplay between Sinese's character and that of Cale (played by Mekhi Phifer), though the status of his group of outlaws goes somewhat unexplained. After all, Earth has a deadly alien enemy, so a desire on the part of some to rebel against a rather dictatorial regime can't help but look a bit of a finicky sideshow.
A pretty good and nuanced performance is also turned in by Vincent D'Onofrio as Hathaway.
Seasoned sci fi fans keen on seeing every film in the genre should not miss it (and Dick is Dick for all that - though the short story is still out there, on paper). Nor should Sinese aficionados pass up the chance (he also produced). Others may wonder if their time might not be better spent, though admittedly this is a short piece at less than 90 minutes before the credits roll.
A pretty good and nuanced performance is also turned in by Vincent D'Onofrio as Hathaway.
Seasoned sci fi fans keen on seeing every film in the genre should not miss it (and Dick is Dick for all that - though the short story is still out there, on paper). Nor should Sinese aficionados pass up the chance (he also produced). Others may wonder if their time might not be better spent, though admittedly this is a short piece at less than 90 minutes before the credits roll.