Hitchcock it ain't

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2011)

"Unknown" is a somewhat Hitchcockian film about a man who suddenly finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue and pitted against a gang of shady characters in a locale unfamiliar to him – in this case, Berlin; the intrigue involves clever complications ensuing from the muddling of both his memory and identity after a traffic accident and subsequent coma. Too much time is wasted on loud and complicated car chases which cause vast destruction of property, not to mention injuries to humans, all of which surely would have dominated the local headlines for days had they ever actually taken place, but here serve only to inject momentary adrenaline into an unoriginal situation; also we are treated to tightly edited but still unconvincing bouts of hand-to-hand combat from which the contenders emerge without lingering wounds.
"Unknown" benefits greatly from the presence of those very good actors Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch and Frank Langella, all of whom are given strong roles. The females (January Jones, Diane Kruger) are presented less interestingly. We are supposed to believe that the gorgeous Diane Kruger is a poverty stricken Bosnian refugee living illegally in Berlin tenement, but speaking perfect English and able to handle a vehicle like a seasoned NASCAR veteran. Uh-huh.