Starring Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger
Score: 2 out of 10
I love Liam Neeson.
I hated Unknown.
I'll concede to the potential of its concept: a husband and wife travel to Berlin for a conference. Upon arriving at the hotel, the husband, Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson), realizes he has left his satchel, which contains his wallet and passport, back at the airport. Without telling his wife (January Jones, who is terrible here for the same reasons she's great on 'Mad Men'), Harris hails a cab and heads back to find his lost luggage.
On the way, a refrigerator falls off a truck causing a chain reaction accident that ends with the cab flying into bone-chilling waters. Harris suffers a nasty bump on the noggin that leaves him in a coma for four days. When he regains consciousness, he's understandably worried about his wife, but with her, he also meets the man (Aidan Quinn) who has moved into his life and now claims to be Martin Harris.
For the first hour of Unknown's entirely-too-long two hour running time, not much happens save for Neeson running around claiming to be the real Dr. Harris. People tell him he's not. He insists he is. Rinse, repeat.
When Neeson's Harris finally enlists the services of a private investigator who was once a member of East Germany's Stasi, things perk up a bit. This is clearly a character with a past, but with the exception of one scene, his presence is squandered--as is Frank Langella, who shows up to give the film its big reveal. I'll give some kudos to the twist, which on first blush is quite ingenious, but by the time you find out who the real Martin Harris is, the film is so flawed, nothing can save it.
Unknown is now in theaters.
