Rating:  

Dark Castle Entertainment, Studio Babelsberg, Studio Canal, and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Written by: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cromwell, adapted from the novel “Out Of My Head” by Didier Van Cauwelaert.

In 2009, Liam Neeson made a highly successful switch from respected dramatic lead actor to high octane action movie star with the megahit, “Taken.” The film’s surprising success seemed to reinvent Neeson and subsequent work in “The A-Team”, “Clash of the Titans” and “The Next Three Days” has rather inexplicably positioned the now 58-year old Neeson as an action movie go-to-guy. As great as it may have been to see him destroy nearly all of Europe in “Taken”, I am not entirely sure I felt ready to see him head overseas again in another shoot-em-up action/adventure.

“Unknown” serves as that latest endeavor for Neeson, and the hook is intriguing. Attending a biotechnology summit in Berlin, Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) realizes he has left a briefcase back at the airport and without thinking, summons a cab to take him to retrieve it. In his haste to retrieve the briefcase, he abandons his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) at the hotel as she is checking the couple in. On his way back to the airport, and in an effort to avoid terrible traffic, Harris falls victim to a wicked car accident which lands him in a 4-day coma. Once awake, he convinces his doctor to let him return to the hotel and Harris finds familiar faces amongst his peers.

Desperate to find his wife, things quickly fall apart when his efforts to reconnect with Elizabeth result in her denying that Neeson’s Dr. Harris is her husband. Despite his attempts to convince her, Elizabeth is unwavering and becomes a bit worried at this strange man’s protestations. When another man identifies himself as Dr. Martin Harris (Aidan Quinn), and provides credentials validating his identity, confusion reigns with all involved. Neeson’s desire to remember what happened to him and his true identity becomes more and more untenable, especially as he observes life happening as normal; almost as if he failed to exist.

Things start to return to Neeson’s Dr. Harris in fits and starts however and soon, he tracks down the cab driver who saved his life. Gina (Diane Kruger, “Inglourious Basterds”) wants nothing to do with Neeson and tries to avoid any and all contacts with him. Like a pest, however, Neeson keeps finding her and eventually she agrees to lend him a hand. Her resistance and fleeing from the accident scene ties into her own set of hidden secrets that I will opt not to reveal here. Together, Neeson and Kruger develop a nice chemistry in their scenes together as she commits to helping him unravel his mysteries. In fact, disclosing anything else would reveal more than I am willing to share, as “Unknown” lives and breathes on its twists and turns. It nearly crashes and burns under them as well, but more on that in a moment.

The premise of mistaken identity is a familiar and oversaturated one in today’s cinema, but I have to admit that the opening 60 minutes or so of “Unknown” had me in the palm of its hand, playing along with Neeson’s desperate Dr. Harris. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (“Orphan”) handles the set up well and executes the foundation of the story with some nice and subtle visual nuances. Neeson is settled in comfortably with the role, not all that different in intensity than his Bryan Mills character from “Taken”. Diane Kruger stands out in a pretty terrific and understated performance as Gina, the cab driver who is Neeson’s only trusted friend in his nightmarish situation. I also can’t say enough about veteran German actor Bruno Ganz’s work as Jurgen ,the private investigator who Neeson turns to for help. He is refreshingly real and fantastic. On the downside, I continue to be unable to find any appeal whatsoever in January Jones as an actress. She exhibits a startling lack of personality here (and in virtually everything else) and I can only imagine that a more expressive and less vain actress could have helped propel the storyline along even further.

Additionally, “Unknown” nearly buckles under its own weight of expectation. After a key scene concludes involving Jurgen and a contact from Neeson’s past, Raymond Cole (Frank Langella), the film seems to dovetail into silliness and unbelievability. The scene in question is set up to amplify an intensely thrilling and momentous conclusion to the proceedings. But surprisingly, Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cromwell’s screenplay loses its measured and steady approach to the maze-like path of the narrative. Everything pulls together too quickly and as more and more of the plot is explained and revealed, and the true nature of what is going on is unveiled, the film devolves from a mind-bending guessing game to a paint-by-numbers action film with shootouts and explosions. Some won’t care, but others, like myself, will feel a bit cheated. In the final minutes of “Unknown”, it almost seems as if the movie was really intended to be more of a standard action film than a suspenseful mystery. In hindsight, the movie feels like two different movies sandwiched together as one.

What I take away from “Unknown” is that there is more good than bad here. The film’s lack of logic in tying all the twists and turns together is notable and noticeable but the work of Neeson, Kruger, Ganz, and some of the cinematography and other below-the-line work is impressive. “Unknown” is similar but not as entertaining as “Taken” and there are other films that handle the mistaken identity idea better and with more aplomb. But what “Unknown” delivers is good escapism and enough of an intriguing premise that you can survive that terrible third act reasonably well.

Should I See It?

YES

“Unknown” is another February action movie that would play just as well in the summer. For those who love their action blockbusters, here is an early treat. Those who like to not think much about the movie and just be entertained, will have a lot to like here.

“Taken” fans line up.

Technically, the film delivers with some exciting action sequences and great cinematography. Jaume Collet-Serra delivers a pretty engaging first hour of the movie and the below-the-line work from his crew amplifies things to a large extent.

Neeson and Kruger and Bruno Ganz make this film feel like it could be something really special with their performances.

NO

For me, the movie squandered so much in the final act, I almost could not give it a recommended rating. Be warned as the weaving together of all the plot twists might leave you frayed and frustrated.

January Jones is uninteresting and wooden; almost a black hole the movie cannot climb out of. Watching her it is almost as if she cannot be bothered to emote, react, or do anything with a camera on her. She is far too vain to be effective here.

Those who like the suspense and mystery will likely drift away when the movie becomes a standard action/shoot-em-up/explosion movie.

You didn’t like “Taken”.