"Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning our descent into Berlin Tegel, where local time is 8:30 AM, and the temperature is a cool minus four degrees."Unknown is a thriller from 2011 that’s 55% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, where 57% of viewers report liking it.
Why Bother?
"Do you know what it feels like to become insane, doctor? It's like a war between
being told who you are and knowing who you are. Which do you think wins?"
If you enjoyed Taken, you probably want to see Liam Neeson kick ass again.
If you watch Mad Men, you might be a fan of January Jones.
Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella, and Bruno Ganz (loved him in Wings of Desire) round out the cast.
Perhaps you read the novel, Out of My Head, by Didier Van Cauwelaert and want to see the adaptation.
If you liked House of Wax (2005) or Orphan (2009), Jaume Collet-Serra also directed Unknown.
After the break, I’ll tell you why none of those are good enough reasons to watch this movie.
I watched it
"There is no Martin Harris. He doesn't exist."
Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) travels to Berlin for a scientific conference. His wife, Elizabeth (January Jones), travels with him. When they arrive at their hotel, Dr. Harris discovers that he’s missing his briefcase. While Elizabeth checks in, he takes a cab back to the airport to get it.
On the way, the cab gets in an accident and he hits his head against the windshield. The driver, Gina (Diane Kruger), heroically rescues him, but then runs off before the police arrive.
Dr. Harris wakes up in a Berlin hospital with no ID, and trouble with his memory. When he returns to the hotel to reassure his wife that he’s alright, Elizabeth says she doesn’t know him. She’s with another Martin (Aidan Quinn).
Dr. Harris must recover his identity and find out why someone is impersonating him.
The Verdict
"I didn't forget everything. I remember how to kill you, asshole."
So, the first reason to look away is how little ass Liam Neeson gets to kick in this movie. Mostly he wanders the streets of Berlin looking lost and bereft. Diane Kruger (who, at 5’7” looks like a child next to the 6’4” Neeson) kicks more ass.
The movie races towards better things, but it keeps making sharp turns into mediocrity instead.
The reunited Berlin is a great setting. Bruno Ganz, as former Stasi agent Ernst Jurgen, comes closest to actually using the setting. He has some great lines about Germany forgetting Communism just as it forgot National Socialism. I would have liked to see more of that resentment, and more secret pasts, lurking under Berlin’s surface.
The movie makes a point of saying that Gina is an illegal immigrant, mostly to cut her and Martin Harris off from government support. That's another wasted opportunity. Is illegal immigration a problem in Germany, or in Berlin specifically? How do people feel about it? What are the sides to the debate? The filmmakers lost a chance to say something about immigration issues all over the world.
East Germany, and East Berlin, were police states under constant and omnipresent surveillance. Some comparison between that and modern life in other places, including the National Security theatrics practiced in the United States, would have been great.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss better ways to feed the world, including bioengineered crops, but the movie says nothing about the morality and ethics, not to mention real hazards, of genetically engineered food. It’s just a McGuffin, and it feels like the creators chose biotech just because it’s a hot topic. It has nothing to do with the film.
Finally (and quickly), the twist at the end is a shock because nothing in the movie builds toward it. It’s a deux ex machina to explain away the two Martins. It has nothing to do with the rest of the film, and leaves a bad taste long after it’s gone.
Want to watch a thriller with an amnesiac hero? Watch the Bourne trilogy, and Just Look Away from Unknown.
