Unknown

******WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS*******Once known for roles like "Schindler's List" and "Michael Collins," Neeson has now become an action star with the "Taken" trilogy, "Non-Stop" and other films including this GEM of a movie. What sets Neeson apart from other so-called "action stars" is the gravitas he brings to his roles because he is such a wonderful actor but also because he is so physically imposing. Unlike Tom Cruise [why would they cast a 5' 6" actor as Jack Reacher is beyond me] you really believe that Neeson's characters can take on the bad guys and win."Unknown" is a terrific movie and calls for only some suspension of disbelief in my opinion because everything comes together by the end. Yes, Neeson's character leaves his briefcase at the airport but come on people, do you want a movie or not? Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris who has come to Berlin with his wife Liz [played woodenly by eye candy January Jones, make that emaciated eye candy January Jones] who is the only person in the movie who was badly cast. Forgetting the aforementioned briefcase at the airport, he gets into a cab at his hotel driven by Diane Kruger...who brings all the life January Jones left behind as an illegal Bosnian immigrant working in Germany. They get into a car crash and Neeson wakes up in the hospital where he has been in a coma for four days.Frantic that his wife doesn't know where he is, Harris's life turns into a Kafkaeque nightmare when he locates his wife who doesn't recognize him and worse is with another man who claims that he is Dr. Martin Harris. For a brief moment he begins to think that maybe his head injury is worse than he thought until someone tries to assassinate him and he realizes that there is a plot afoot because if he were just some guy recovering from the aftereffects of a coma, why would someone want to kill him? OK..that's it for the spoiler alerts and actually the film has so many twists and turns to it that I haven't given that much away.Neeson has seamlessly made the transition to action star and this movie succeeds on every level. Who is he? Who is the man pretending to be Dr. Martin Harris? Why does his own wife not recognize him? What will he do and where will he turn? This is where Diane Kruger enters the picture and her performance is first rate. Her "Gina" is smart and resourceful and saves the day more than once.Other standouts include Bruno Ganz as Ernst Jurgen, a former Stasi agent ["I cannot drink any longer but I like to forget that. We Germans are experts at forgetting. We forgot we were Nazis. Now we have forgotten 40 years of Communism - all gone."] who is an unlikely ally -- aren't we supposed to hate the East German counterparts of the KGB -- but Jurgen makes us like him almost against our will. Frank Langella as Rodney Cole and Sebastian Koch as Dr Bressler also infuse their characters with special qualities. I have been enamored with Koch since I first saw him in the Dutch film "The Black Book" and even in this small role, he shines. I did not recognize Aidan Quinn during the first go around of seeing the movie. His looks have changed a lot but once I got over the surprise of how much he has aged, I just enjoyed his usual competent performanceThis is an edge-of-your-seat thriller/mystery that takes us for a ride in more ways than one meaning I hope you like car chases. If you enjoy this type of genre the way we do, you will not be disappointed. "Unknown" delivers.

Before watching this movie, I had already read the book and knew the story. However, let me say this: the movie is better than the book. The movie takes the basic premise of the book, and turns it into an action thriller.Basic premise: Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) arrives in Berlin for a biotechnology conference. As he and his wife Liz(January Jones) arrive at their hotel, Harris suddenly remembers that he accidentally left his suitcase at the airport. He jumps into a taxi driven by Gina (Kruger), but gets into an accident as the car crashes off a bridge and into the water. Gina saves him from drowning, and harris wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of what happened. He returns to the hotel to visit Liz, but finds her with another man who also claims to be Dr. Martin Harris. Liz does not recognize him, and Dr. Martin Harris is struggling to prove his identity to others and stop the impostor with her. Soon enough, Harris is chased by a killer, puts the lives of those around him in danger, and has to escape before it's too late.At the crux of this movie is an Agatha Christie-type mystery. As both Martin harris and the viewers, struggle to figure out what is going on. The movie has some good chase scenes, and is filmed pretty vividly. Unlike the book, where Harris kind of goes from place to place trying to get some information (he visits the police station, stands outside of Liz's apartment building, goes to the American embassy, and is generally a passive character for three fourths of the book), the movie Martin Harris is much more interesting and active. Another interesting difference is that in the book the events take place in France, while in the movie events take place in Germany. Overall, though, this is a good action flick.

Kept me interested

Possibly one of the most overused quotes from Jim Morrison is "there are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors." There is no easy way to sum up the filmUNKNOWN, since it is a thriller, as well as an action piece. I suspect that the book, in English translation, which UNKNOWN is adapted from, as many more answers, and probablyjust as many dead ends. Just as the film THE NINTH GATE was a superbly teased out thread from the book le club Dumas, where certain characters become clear only after readingthe book. Playing with the theme of the loss of memory is an intriguing element, especially when I had received an amazingly erudite book called COMMUNITY in the same weekthat I received UNKNOWN, and I could not help but draw some comparisons. When I had looked up the quote from Jim Morrison, I also found another Morrison quote that could quiteeasily apply to the film unknown:" I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown." Basically at least the first third of the filmcould apply to this quote. I must admit that my interest in this film was from a promo where there was no indication of the central film story. The film TAKEN is, in my view,what some may term a rock 'em sock 'em roller coaster ride, where the identities of each character are clearly defined, and you are essentially strapped in for an amazingroller coaster ride that few films can emulate in the exact same way. UNKNOWN requires more thought, more intellect, in the approach that the audience should take with such apotentially involving film. I suspect that this film may not be everyone's cup of tea, as some might say, since key characters evolve, develop, and, at least from my point ofview, raise many questions about the nature of who we are, what are our memories, and so on. It seemed Langella enjoyed this role, and got into the intricacies very much. So,suspend the analytical, at least while you watch the film, and I think you will have an unforgettable experience.

A-1 Product