True Identity

True Identity is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Charles Lane and starring Lenny Henry, Frank Langella and Anne-Marie Johnson. The plot revolves around a black man, who disguises himself as a white man to escape the mob.

Plot

A struggling black actor named Miles Pope is on a plane ride home from a failed acting audition. Miles meets a producer named Leland Carver who accidentally reveals his mafia ties when he believes that their plane is about to crash. However, the plane does not crash and Miles is the only man who knows Leland's past. To escape, Miles persuades his makeup artist friend Duane to transform him into a Caucasian male.
As Miles is packing his bags to get out of town, a hitman walks in and a struggle ensues. Miles kills the hitman, but through a comedy of errors he is mistaken for the hitman. Miles must assume a parade of identities to stay one step ahead of the mafia on his trail.

Cast

Lenny Henry as Miles Pope
Frank Langella as Leland Carver
Anne-Marie Johnson as Kristi
James Earl Jones as himself
Charles Lane as Duane
Peggy Lipton as Rita
Melvin Van Peebles as Taxi Driver
J. T. Walsh as Houston
Andreas Katsulas as Anthony
Austin Pendleton as Othello's Director
Michael McKean as Harvey Cooper
Bill Raymond as Grunfield
Darnell Williams as Tyler
Christopher Collins as Frank LaMotta
Ruth Brown as Martha
Fantasia Owens as Ruth

Reception

The film received mediocre reviews. Caryn James of The New York Times said that Lane's direction was "tame and conventional" and that although Henry had "obvious" talent, True Identity does not take enough advantage of it". Lenny Henry commented on the film retrospectively in 2010: "When I went to America to do True Identity in 1991, I realised they had their own Richard Pryor, they didn’t need me pretending to be Richard Pryor, so I had a massive career rethink." The film was not a box office success.