UNKNOWN – The Review

A popular theme of the mystery thriller film genre is the big conspiracy against one man. Sometimes the protagonist has amnesia and battles shadowy forces to find out his identity. Many times those forces are out to convince the authorities that the hero has lost his sanity. The makers of UNKNOWN twist those themes in order to add some variety to this type of action film. What if you woke up and all your loved ones did not recognize you?

As UNKNOWN begins Dr. Martin Harris ( Liam Neeson ) and his wife Elizabeth ( January Jones ) are flying into the Berlin airport. Martin is a prominent American botanist and is scheduled to present an address at an international agricultural summit. After landing, they load their bags into a taxi and head to the hotel. As Elizabeth checks in, Martin realizes that his briefcase was not in the cab. Without telling her, he hops in another taxi driven by Gina ( Diane Kruger ) and races back to the airport. Along the way they are involved in a horrific traffic accident and the taxi plunges off a bridge into an icy river. After pulling Martin out of the sinking car, Gina leaves him to the paramedics. A few days later, Martin wakes up in a hospital. He’s told that Elizabeth has not been in to see him. Against his doctor’s wishes, Martin races back to the hotel and spots her at a reception. With hotel security surrounding him, Martin confronts her. But she does not know him and is joined by her husband Dr. Martin Harris ( Aidan Quinn ) ! Martin #1 has no ID on him ( it was in that darn briefcase ) and is escorted out by security. Has he lost his mind? Maybe if he can find the cab driver and retrieve that case he’ll be able to prove his identity and get his life back. But those shadowy forces are not going to make it that easy for him.

UNKNOWN has a lot of things going for it that elevates it from the usual man on the run thriller. First off is the cast headed by the always interesting Liam Neeson. Here he’s somewhere in-between the tough guy from TAKEN and the cerebral scholar from KINSEY. He really has to use his brain and brawn fending off those conspirators all the while frustrated and sorrowful at the turn his life has taken. He’s got to return things back to normal. January Jones plays another variation of the icy blond that was a staple of Hitchcock film and injects a bit of her Betty Draper Mad Men TV persona. Aidan Quinn plays the second Martin with equal parts bewilderment and cold-bloodiness. Frank Langella sweeps in during the last act as a colleague that may be the real Martin’s salvation. Or is he? Diane Kruger brings great energy to her role as the somewhat, shady, feisty fraulein Gina, who wants nothing to do with Martin at first. The best support is given by veteran German film star Bruno Ganz as private detective Ernst Jurgen who’s an ex-officer of an elite East German secret police force. You might recognize Ganz from his performance as Hitler in DOWNFALL-footage of him ranting has been re-subtitled and purloined by many You Tube posters. He gives the world-weary old detective a quiet dignity and commands the screen in every scene he appears. Another thing going for this film is the Berlin locations. This is a locale we don’t get to see much in current films unlike LA or Toronto. Director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps things movingly along. There’s a couple of well executed car chases through crowded Berlin streets and some brutal hand-to-hand combat sequences. He wrings a lot of suspense from a drugged-up Martin trying to reach for a pair of scissors in one sequence. I wish the script would’ve offered up a few more surprises. I was able to figure out the big plan about a third of the way through. However the film’s strong cast, locations, and pacing set it above the typical crash-crash-explosion actioners that fill up the multiplex. Not anything groundbreaking , but a diverting couple of hours at the movies.

Overall Rating : Three and a Half Out of Five Stars