Emboldened by his success in 2008’s Taken, Liam Neeson has returned to the action/thriller genre in Unknown, based on the 2003 French novel published in English as Out of My Head, by Didier van Cauwelaert. Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, an American university professor in Berlin for a biotechnology conference. He is accompanied by his wife of five years, Elizabeth (January Jones). Arriving at their hotel, Martin realizes he has misplaced his briefcase, which includes his passport and other vital pieces of identification. He quickly grabs a cab to head back to the airport to retrieve the briefcase. His cab is involved in a serious accident.
Knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, Martin’s life is saved by the cab driver, an illegal arrives. Martin is in a coma for four days and, when he awakens, his memory is foggy. With his wife not around, he leaves the hospital against his doctor’s orders and goes to the hotel, where he is greeted by a very strange situation. His wife doesn’t recognize him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) claims to be the “real” Martin Harris. When a hit man tries to kill him, Martin bgins to believe he might be losing his mind.
From there, Neeson’s character spends much of the film trying to prove he’s the real Martin Harris. He locates the cab driver who saved his life, and turns to a Stasi agent-turned-private detective (Bruno Ganz) in an effort to figure it all out. As the stakes are raised and various assassins come out of the woodwork, an old friend (Frank Langella) arrives to help identify the real Dr. Harris.
Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell’s screenplay is riddled with holes. While that does take some of the intrigue out of the film, there is enough action to keep things interesting. The question of who Dr. Martin Harris is pales in comparison to the more pressing questions that begin seeping out of his doppelgänger’s story. Unfortunately, once all of the answers have been revealed, the entire plot makes little practical sense. Three are almost too many twists and turns in the story. By the end, Neeson is forced to try and keep up with a story that has gone in too many directions.
Even so, If you don’t think about the story too much, Unknown offers some great action and excitement for those that love a rollercoaster ride. I would suggest a rental before making a purchase.
Warner brings Unknown to Blu-ray in a AVC-encoded 2.40:1 high-definition presentation. It looks very impressive. Black levels are deep and inky while providing solid contrast, flesh tones are accurate, and colors are reproduced vividly without oversaturation. Film grain is present, and image detail is abundant in the foreground and background.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is also impressive. Dialogue is centered and the level is satisfying. The subwoofer has free reign and fills out the low-end perfectly. Directional effects are convincing, and channel panning is clear when called upon. The soundtrack is immersive.
We don’t get much in the way of special features:
- Liam Neeson: Known Action Hero (HD, 5 minutes) is really just standard EPK stuff.
- Unknown: What is Known? (HD, 4 minutes), is… well, just standard EPK stuff.
- Standard DVD
- Digital Copy
