The great irony of Unknown is that, despite its title, it’s hardly an unknown quantity. In fact, it’ll be surprising if a less remarkable thriller is released this year. That’s not to say it’s a terrible film. On the contrary, the first half is riveting and builds a sense of quietly clammy menace. However, as is often the case with these high-concept genre pieces, once everything starts to be explained, it goes down the tubes. Unknown would, ironically, prove much more effective if it lived up to its title and wasn’t so insistent on tying everything up.
One major bonus is the central casting of Liam Neeson although, if one brings the knowledge of his mega-hit Taken to bear on this new effort, it’s also a hindrance. He plays Martin Harris, a doctor newly arrived in Berlin with petite blonde wife Liz (January Jones, Mad Men) for a bio-technology conference. Realising he’s left a piece of baggage at the airport, he returns to retrieve it, only for his taxi to crash off a bridge. Spiralling into a coma for the better part of four days, when he awakens, he finds that no-one seems to know who he is, including his own wife. Even worse, she appears to be married to another man with his name …
The set-up is juicy but the pay-off is as derivative as they come. Neeson is a compelling presence, able to acutely project wounded paranoia without sacrificing his commanding physicality but interest in him is eventually shoehorned in by the narrative. It’s a shame because the first half is so promising, painting Berlin as a steely, creepy, snowbound world of dark secrets. It’s also genuinely unclear as to whether Neeson may or may not be losing his mind. Solid, if not spectacular, support comes from Jones, Diane Kruger (as the illegal immigrant taxi driver who eventually becomes Neeson’s only ally) and Aidan Quinn, but the real standouts are the minor parts, namely Bruno Ganz as an ex-Stasi agent whom Neeson solicits for help, and an ever-creepy Frank Langella.
Throughout, there are nods to Roman Polanski’s Frantic, much of Hitchcock’s output and more, but at least the first half sustains interest. Director Jaume Collet-Serra builds tension effectively and is aided by a classy score from John Ottman and Alexander Rudd, but he can’t prevent the film sinking inevitably into a swamp of cliches. In the end, it’s Unknown only in name, not in nature.
Sean's rating 5/10
