Unknown

It’s amnesia time again, folks! In Unknown, Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife (January Jones) take a trip to Berlin to attend a medical conference, but an accident befalls Harris who, after being unconscious for a few days, wakes up to discover that a different man appears to have taken over his identity and that even his wife has no idea who he is. As Harris’ memory begins to repair itself, and with help from Diane Kruger (playing the world’s most implausible taxi driver), he begins to unravel what’s going on, but, of course, that means he soon finds himself under threat from some shadowy forces. The innocent man on the run is the classic Hitchcock staple, though director Jaume Collet-Serra differs from the master by going down the route of having the audience find out the plot twist at the same time as the protagonist. This actually works quite well and the reveal is smart (if increasingly implausible as the film progresses). Collet-Serra has a back ground in music videos and TV commercials and he certainly knows how to convey an atmosphere, including the real star of the film, Berlin itself, which he shoots in muted metallic colours giving the rainy and snowy city a menacing look, though with a hint of beauty underneath. Fans of German films will also appreciate appearances by many well known faces, including Bruno Kanz and Sebastian Koch. Despite Collet-Serra’s frenetic background, he doesn’t have much experience of shooting action sequences and some of them in this film aren’t really up to scratch. However, to be fair to him he does pretty much get most other things right and helped by a good performance in the lead from Neeson this is a nice thriller which moves along at a decent pace.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Quite smart this, though, ironically, not one to stay in the memory long after. Rating: 7/10