Unknown review

            The premise of Unknown is a winner, if only because it is difficult to imagine the answers to the mysteries within the film until it has been watched. It is a premise almost too good to deliver, but Unknown follows through with a steady and confident touch. The action is subtle and the suspense fairly realistic in presentation, though the storyline is more and more outlandish as it unfolds.

            Liam Neeson has recently found his way into the role of an action hero after the success of Taken, but Unknown is hardly at the same level of excitement. This time around Neeson is Dr. Martin Harris, a scientist on his way to Berlin for a conference with his wife (January Jones) when an accident befalls him. After a car crash with a Bosnian taxi driver (Diane Kruger), Martin awakes four days later in a hospital. His memory is shot, but he is able to remember who he is and what he is doing in Berlin. The only problem is that he finds himself replaced by another man when he reaches the conference. This man (played by Aidan Quinn) also claims to be Dr. Martin, and stranger still is the fact that Martin’s wife also confirms this, claiming not to know who he is.

            At first Martin is convinced that he has simply lost his mind, but soon he finds that there is something far more complicated going on when men keep appearing to take him away. Relying on the help of the taxi driver and a former Nazi, Dr. Martin struggles to find the answers behind his true identity. There are not dozens of twists, as much as a simple answer which is slowly unfolded within the thoughtful thriller as it plays out.