Starring: Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella, Bruno Ganz and Sebastian Koch.
Written by: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell, Based on the novel Out of My Head by Didier Van Cauwalaert
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
113 Minutes
Warner Bros.
February usually sucks for new releases but movies released in February that feature Liam Neeson kicking people's asses in Europe don't suck. Back in February of 2008 Taken hit American screens and because of its release date I walked in the theatre with a generous dose of skepticism. With that film I was pleasantly surprised and found it to be a solid thriller. When I saw that Liam Neeson was once again coming out with a European action thriller, in February, I was actually excited.
Unknown is a story about Dr. Martin Harris, who, after arriving in Berlin, is in a car accident and develops amnesia. After four days in hospital he wakes and understandably wants to rush back to his beautiful wife, January Jones. Only when he gets there she says she not only doesn't know who he is, she's there with Aidan Quinn who says that he too is Dr. Martin Harris. Then for the rest of the 113 minutes Neeson prove to everyone, including his wife, that he is the real Dr. Martin Harris.
Unknown is a solid thriller, almost better than Taken. On the surface the film seems like it would be riddled with plot-holes but once the big twist is revealed towards the end of the film and you look back at what you just saw, it all makes sense. I actually got to see the film twice and it was no-less entertaining with knowing the twist in advance. I did think that there were some cheats at the beginning relating to the Neeson and Jones' relationship, but those were small when you think about how well the film plays.
Liam Neeson has a wonderful stoicism and along with his everyman quality really drives the film. This is his story and throughout Neeson sells each seemingly crazy plot twist and makes them seem less crazy. He is earnest, almost to a fault, and comes off like a rich man's Jack Bauer. It's what these movies need to make them work. Whether it's Robert Cummings in Saboteur or Cary Grant in North by Northwest the success of the film lies with how well the star can sell the situation and almost distract us, through the urgency of the storytelling, of the potential "why didn't he/they do this moments." One of my favorites in North by Northwest is when Cary Grant is coming downstairs from George Kaplan's room with his mother, he sees the heavies and then quickly takes off. The heavies take off after him but wouldn't it have been smarter for the heavies to just kidnap the mother until Cary traded his life for his mother's? That would have made it a different movie.
The other performances are fine and Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella are fantastic in their seemingly small roles. Also, Diane Kruger was great as the Serbian illegal who picks up Dr. Martin Harris in her cab at the beginning of the film, and then teams up with him later. January Jones was a good choice for the wife. She has the icy blond look that Hitchcock loved and at an earlier time she would have been heir apparent to Grace Kelly.
The direction is solid and although Collet-Serra doesn't get in the way of the story, there was nothing that jumped out at me which made it special or raised it above the material. But the source material seemed strong making it hard for Collet-Serra to screw it up.
Unknown is a solid thriller that was almost as good on the second viewing as it was on the first.
It is a solid B+.
Check out the trailer:
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