Big Screen Blurb: Unknown

It's The Fugitive meets Mission Impossible with a Hangover-esque twist…minus the hilarity, mind you. It’s Unknown, starring Liam Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris, January Jones as Mrs. Harris and the always frightening Frank Langella (I swear…this dude’s mom has to be freaked by his very presence) as Rodney Cole.

The good doctor is in Germany for a BioTech conference. Never fear…no need to grab a pillow and think about a much-coveted nap. No, there is no lingering talk of lysine and corn starch here. Maybe that’s because Dr. Harris is in a bad accident while making a mad dash back to the airport to retrieve his briefcase. He wakes up from a four-day coma with a little amnesia and a lot of panic. He’s a little fuzzy about who he is, but does know that his wife doesn’t know where he is…after all, she’s in a foreign city and undoubtedly scared stiff, right? Well, not exactly. You see, Doc finally catches up to his wife only to find out that apparently his amnesia is contagious. She doesn’t know who he is. To make matters far worse, is the new Dr. Harris (Aiden Quinn), who has arrived on the scene. Old Doc begins to question his sanity as New Doc seems to know as much about being him as he does. Plus, New Doc has the lil Mrs on his side, leaving German authorities to play a lightning round of To Tell the Truth…a game apparently lost by Old Doc.

Pretty soon, however, an identity crisis is not the only issue facing Old Doc. That’s right; soon, bullets start flying toward Old Doc and he’s left to piece together the whole scenario in the wake. Yadayadayada gun fights, car chases and explosions ensue as eventually an Unknown picture eventually comes into focus.

It was good. I’ll go with 3.5 Stars. Admittedly, for the premise of the storyline, it’s pretty predictable until you reach a floor-dropping twist. That little development makes the film work against that predictability and helps the flick stay with you past the lobby. The concept is interesting. Especially so, considering that we’re living in a time where an identity can easily be stolen.

The Director, Jaume Collet-Serra, has the audience collared and leashed, pulling us along the Identity Theft path every step of the way. In other words, we’re in dark right along with Old Doc Harris. We don’t know why these people are playing this game of “will the real Dr. H” stand up. We don’t know why these people are doing this and further, why they’re tying to kill him. We want to—which makes the flick work even before the ending. However, it’s the twist that makes it really effective for me—not another word on that, I promise.

I will give Unknown solid scores all around…from acting (I mean, this is Liam Neeson, right?) to plot. Sure, the chase scenes are nothing new, but they do contribute to the unfolding of a pretty good flick that you might as well see and see BIG.

True…OUT!