Better than what the general verdict of critics would have you believe

Rating: Null/10 (17 March 2011)

Unless I have missed something obvious in the movie, the simple title simply refers to the protagonist's state in a large part of the movie. Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) from the US, flying to attend a state-of-the-art biotech conference at the invitation of Professor Bressler (Sebastian Koch), discovers at the hotel entrance that he has left an important briefcase at the Berlin airport and immediately grabs a cab to go back without even telling his wife Liz (January Jones) who has just gone into the hotel to check in. In the cab, he is frustrated by reception problems that prevent him from reaching his wife through cell phone. Next thing he knows – he is in a hospital after 4 days of coma resulted from an accident of the cab.
I'll get on with a little more of the plot, until we hit the spoiler zone. With whatever little memory left, he goes back to the hotel, only to find his wife with another Dr. Martin Harris (Aidan Quinn) who has passport to prove his identity, and both claiming that they have never seen him before. Back in the hospital, his refusal to believe that he has not gone crazy is soon confirmed, ominously, by a man's attempt to kidnap him. Escaping, he seeks help from various parties – Professor Bressler, his long acquainted colleague in US Rodney Cole (Frank Langella), the illegal Easter European immigrant cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) who saved him from the accident and finally a private detective (previously German secret police – Stasi) Ernst Jurgen (Bruno Ganz) introduced by the nurse who attended to him in the hospital.
Having gone this far, it is quite obvious that this is one of the lost-identity thrillers which has always been quite appealing. With this genre, plot holes are almost inevitable and some critics seem to hang their livelihood on finding plot holes. In this movie, the biggest lapse from credibility is right at the beginning, when the protagonist would absentmindedly leave such an important piece of luggage at the airport. The main plot and plot twists are however not as absurd as the critics would have you believe. They are actually quite clever. After all, this is a movie to entertain, not a scientific research paper.
As a suspense thriller, this movie has a delightful hint of all the Hitchcock-ish pleasures you may recall. In particular, Jones would have made a good Hitchcock blond had she been born earlier, at least better than Tippi Hedren. I would even love to see her in Vertigo (1958) to be compared against Kim Novak. Still, "Unknown" is no Hitch, and I wouldn't want to create unrealistic expectations.
Neeson is just about perfect for his role. Kruger as a toughened illegal immigrant with an East European accent is still beautiful, and does her part. Becoming quite recognizable in English-speaking cinema since "The lives of others" (2006) and "Black Book" (2007), Koch has a pivotal role to play. The really meaty acting (SPOILER) however comes in a scene between Langella and Bruno, where the dialogue seems completely benign but the chilling undercurrent reminds you of a scene in "No country for old men" between Javier Bardem's character and an innocent store owner.
The direction is just fine, with ample evidence throughout the movie of careful consideration of camera angles the impact of images on the audiences. While somewhat formulaic the car chase and actions sequences well balance the suspense elements. All told, this is a solid suspense thriller that deserves better from the critics.