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(2/2011) Movie Review: Liam Neeson’s Unknown
3 1/2 Stars
Review By James R. Holland 
This Berlin Based Action Thriller Feels So Familiar
At 113-minutes, this PG-13 Rated Action/Mystery/Thriller/Drama seems like a remake of another motion picture with a few unexpected twists that keep the audience guessing. In this movie Liam Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, a biotech expert attending an important scientific conference held over the Thanksgiving Holiday season in modern day Berlin. Berlin is experiencing an icy snowy winter.
Martin’s wife Elizabeth Harris who is attending the conference with her husband, is played well by January Jones. However her speaking role is rather limited and she is most memorable because of a black, skin hugging cocktail she wears in the climactic scenes of the movie.
Diane Kruger plays the main female role as the illegal alien taxi driver Gina. Her taxi is involved in an accident and plunges off a bridge into the river. Gina manages to escape the sinking cab and then returns to also save her passenger the knocked unconscious Harris as well. Harris wakes up in the hospital after four days in a coma. He quickly discovers that he is the victim of identity theft—only this time even his wife doesn’t recognize him nor does her new husband played ably by Aidan Quinn.
They convince the Hotel security that the Liam Neeson character is suffering from delusions caused by the auto accident he admits having just been involved in. Dr. Harris then begins trying to prove his real identity and is about to give up in frustration and stay in the hospital until his full memory returns when some thugs attempt to murder him. Half drugged he watches helplessly as they kill his nurse.
At that point in the plot Martin knows that he is involved in some kind of plot that probably revolves around the Scientific Conference. Based on local news reports he and Gina suspect it may include another assassination plot to kill Arab Prince Shada played by Mido Amada who is sponsoring and attending the important conference.
There were several excellent performances by supporting cast members including Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella, Sebastian Koch, Olivier Schneider and Stipe Erceg to name only a few. Rather than give away too much of the complicated mysteries contained in this movie’s plot, it will be up to audience members to discover the secrets.
Rest assured, there is plenty of action to keep the audience entranced. It’s well written and directed. It will probably remind some of the older audience members of another motion pictures from the past. The echoes seem to come as faint black and white images from the pre-color era. Alas, the name of the echo source seems lost in the mist of time. That’s not important, this is still a good mystery thriller.
James R. Holland is a film editor, producer, and author–most recently of Adventure Photographer (A Bit of Boston Books/ 2009). He reviews movies exclusively for Basil & Spice. Visit James R. Holland’s Writer’s Page.
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