David O'ConnellUnknown
February 17th 2011 02:30
Nobody can deny that Liam Neeson has experienced a rollercoaster ride in recent years, losing his wife to a horrible skiing accident, and then signing up for a string of films during which it has been the audience who have suffered most cruelly - Chloe (2009), Clash of the Titans (2010) and The A-Team (2010) representing a malicious, creatively-bankrupt, triple-pronged scraping of the bottom of the barrel (though in the case of The A-Team it was more of a crime against humanity than against cinema).
Now redemption of a mild sort comes in the form of Unknown, a sadistically proficient action romp through the arctic streets of Berlin in which a freak roadway accident leaves an esteemed doctor, Martin Harris (Neeson), in a coma for four days. Emerging from his unconscious shell Martin discovers his entire existence has been swiftly negated: his wife (January Jones) denies knowing him and another man with the same name (Aidan Quinn) has stepped in to fill the breach. Is it all a dream, an elaborate deception, or somebody’s idea of a sick joke?
With only a tenuous grip on the finer details of his own identity, Martin tries to sift through the remnants of his memory to solve what seems an elaborate puzzle whose outcome is a matter of life and death.
Identifying an allay he can utilise to support his cause is difficult enough. A taxi driver, Gina (Dianne Kruger), an illegal Romanian who was driving him at the time of the accident, provides a starting point whilst an ex-Stasi officer (Bruno Ganz) also lends a hand. But around every corner a killer lurks, thwarting his attempts to flush the true nature of his enemies’ subterfuge into the light.
Much like Neeson’s last foray into lone-ranger-against-the-world thriller terrain, Taken (2008), Unknown doesn’t waste time on unnecessary set-ups, instead pitching us into the fray before the afterimages of the opening credits have barely faded from sight. Neeson’s naturally imposing physicality makes him a perfect fit for such a role and the real wonder in that is why it took filmmakers so long to find him a new niche. Though there's a heavier emphasis on evasive skills than breaking bones in Unknown, the suspense that screenwriters Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell’s scenarios create offer genuine suspense and a pace that rarely flags.
Bereft of the depressingly simplistic mechanics of most modern action films, Unknown has obviously benefitted from solidifying the detailed source material (a novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert) to keep its narrative on course and enable a regular dosage of intriguing twists. Not that the general air of preposterousness is kept to a minimum – the absurdity of the plot is an ever-present concern and yet Neeson’s persuasive presence acts as a magical defence, somehow eradicating much of them.
Drafting in the always inscrutable Frank Langella for a short but effective support role late in the piece was another fine casting decision by director Jaume Collet-Serra, a young Spaniard who finally earned his stripes with the creepy Orphan (2009), thus erasing painful memories associated with his inglorious debut, House of Wax (2005).
All the smaller roles are handled with aplomb and yet at the same time with neat deferral to the rampaging figure of Neeson. There’s something ironic though about the German-born Kruger playing a foreigner in her own country. Perhaps only Jones (so enigmatically shaded in TV’s Mad Men) as Martin’s young wife lets the side down with a performance that comes across as being a trifle wooden.
Unknown (2011) is disposable action fodder but there’s no denying it’s brilliant entertainment, standing a cut above its competitors thanks to a constructive screenplay which offers rare proof that bricks and mortar might actually be holding the whole thing together.
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