Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
"Unknown" is an unapologetically preposterous movie, which is exactly what it should be. If your premise hinges around a treasure trove of plot holes, your best approach is one that offers up the fewest excuses.
Yes, the film is implausible. It knows this. And we know it, too. We can sense that the "reveal" will belie whatever logic is matched up against it. The movie doesn't try to pass itself off as a realistic drama. Instead, it attempts to stay just plausible enough to keep our interest intact. This does require a suspension of our disbelief. Sometimes we have to be willing to meet movies halfway.
The story opens as an airplane lands in Berlin. Aboard are Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife, Liz (January Jones). He's in town for a biochemical conference. They take a taxi to their hotel, but Harris realizes he's left his attache case at the airport. He heads back, but an accident occurs on his way there. The cab plunges off a bridge, crashes into an icy river. Harris is saved by the driver (Diane Kruger), though she darts off without word immediately following the rescue.
He awakes in the hospital, is told by his doctor that he's been in a coma for four days. He struggles with the details of what happened to him, but he does remember bits and pieces of his life. He leaves the hospital, returns to his hotel, sees Liz already at the conference. But she doesn't recognize him. "You must have me confused with someone else," she says. "This is my husband..." And emerging from a throng of guests is another Martin Harris (Aidan Quinn).
Is the real Martin Harris crazy? Is he who he says he is? Who he believes he is? Or is there a whole lot more going on than meets the eye? To find answers, Harris turns back to the taxi driver, who he locates through another employee of the cab company. In addition, he seeks guidance from a former member of the German Police (Bruno Ganz), who wants to believe Harris' story, but does ask a few common sense questions. ("But how can these people create a random accident that sends your car off a bridge? They're good, but they're not God.")
Common sense would dictate that there is, indeed, more going on here. Yet the film is shot in a cold, unforgiving manner that does give rise to the possibility that Martin Harris just might be hallucinating. Plus, there are those burning questions that are impossible to answer. If his life has, in fact, been taken over, how can the perpetrators have concocted such a random set of circumstances?
One of the keys that makes the film work is the central performance of Liam Neeson. He's quite adept at playing transparent characters. That's a compliment. Despite his imposing physical stature, Neeson is an actor that doesn't grandstand or pose. Even in such roles as the heroic legend Robert Roy MacGregor, Neeson portrayed him as a quiet, unassuming family man who was pushed into conflict despite all efforts to remain neutral. Here, he plays Harris as a simple man with a solitary goal... to get back his identity. He doesn't complicate his character's situation with an added degree of resentment toward his perceived enemies or the apparent betrayal of his wife. The truth is the only thing that matters, regardless of where it takes him.
Diane Kruger has been saddled with the thankless role of the plucky sidekick who finds herself unwittingly caught up in Harris' dilemma. She's effective, though. January Jones and Aidan Quinn somehow manage to keep their performances grounded. They continuously insist that Harris is delusional, though both possess penetratingly bizarre poker faces that can madden the sanest of people.
The most interesting character, however, is the aging former German Police officer played by Bruno Ganz. He has his own reasons for helping Harris, though they're not revealed until late. His best scene is shared with the always-reliable Frank Langella. They play two relic spies who know what the other is thinking before we do... the scene they share morphs from suspense to poignancy.
Some people refuse the suspension of disbelief. I don't, so long as the movie asking it of me is competent enough to keep me entertained. The lack of plausibility can (not always, but sometimes) be offset by skilled filmmaking. The science-fiction thriller "I am Number Four" was also released this week... that one was not only incompetent and uninteresting, but also had an inexplicably bloated sense of cinematic worth. "Unknown" is, at least, skilled in what is does and cognizant of what it is. It's implausible, sure, but also crackling, fast-paced, and entertaining. I didn't mind meeting it halfway.
* * * out of * * * * stars
Yes, the film is implausible. It knows this. And we know it, too. We can sense that the "reveal" will belie whatever logic is matched up against it. The movie doesn't try to pass itself off as a realistic drama. Instead, it attempts to stay just plausible enough to keep our interest intact. This does require a suspension of our disbelief. Sometimes we have to be willing to meet movies halfway.
The story opens as an airplane lands in Berlin. Aboard are Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife, Liz (January Jones). He's in town for a biochemical conference. They take a taxi to their hotel, but Harris realizes he's left his attache case at the airport. He heads back, but an accident occurs on his way there. The cab plunges off a bridge, crashes into an icy river. Harris is saved by the driver (Diane Kruger), though she darts off without word immediately following the rescue.
He awakes in the hospital, is told by his doctor that he's been in a coma for four days. He struggles with the details of what happened to him, but he does remember bits and pieces of his life. He leaves the hospital, returns to his hotel, sees Liz already at the conference. But she doesn't recognize him. "You must have me confused with someone else," she says. "This is my husband..." And emerging from a throng of guests is another Martin Harris (Aidan Quinn).
Is the real Martin Harris crazy? Is he who he says he is? Who he believes he is? Or is there a whole lot more going on than meets the eye? To find answers, Harris turns back to the taxi driver, who he locates through another employee of the cab company. In addition, he seeks guidance from a former member of the German Police (Bruno Ganz), who wants to believe Harris' story, but does ask a few common sense questions. ("But how can these people create a random accident that sends your car off a bridge? They're good, but they're not God.")
Common sense would dictate that there is, indeed, more going on here. Yet the film is shot in a cold, unforgiving manner that does give rise to the possibility that Martin Harris just might be hallucinating. Plus, there are those burning questions that are impossible to answer. If his life has, in fact, been taken over, how can the perpetrators have concocted such a random set of circumstances?
One of the keys that makes the film work is the central performance of Liam Neeson. He's quite adept at playing transparent characters. That's a compliment. Despite his imposing physical stature, Neeson is an actor that doesn't grandstand or pose. Even in such roles as the heroic legend Robert Roy MacGregor, Neeson portrayed him as a quiet, unassuming family man who was pushed into conflict despite all efforts to remain neutral. Here, he plays Harris as a simple man with a solitary goal... to get back his identity. He doesn't complicate his character's situation with an added degree of resentment toward his perceived enemies or the apparent betrayal of his wife. The truth is the only thing that matters, regardless of where it takes him.
Diane Kruger has been saddled with the thankless role of the plucky sidekick who finds herself unwittingly caught up in Harris' dilemma. She's effective, though. January Jones and Aidan Quinn somehow manage to keep their performances grounded. They continuously insist that Harris is delusional, though both possess penetratingly bizarre poker faces that can madden the sanest of people.
The most interesting character, however, is the aging former German Police officer played by Bruno Ganz. He has his own reasons for helping Harris, though they're not revealed until late. His best scene is shared with the always-reliable Frank Langella. They play two relic spies who know what the other is thinking before we do... the scene they share morphs from suspense to poignancy.
Some people refuse the suspension of disbelief. I don't, so long as the movie asking it of me is competent enough to keep me entertained. The lack of plausibility can (not always, but sometimes) be offset by skilled filmmaking. The science-fiction thriller "I am Number Four" was also released this week... that one was not only incompetent and uninteresting, but also had an inexplicably bloated sense of cinematic worth. "Unknown" is, at least, skilled in what is does and cognizant of what it is. It's implausible, sure, but also crackling, fast-paced, and entertaining. I didn't mind meeting it halfway.
* * * out of * * * * stars
