Unknown (2011)

Rating: 5/10 (28 January 2020)

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, January Jones, Frank Langella, Aidan Quinn, Rainer Bock, Sebastian Koch, Karl Markovics. (PG-13)
Neeson travels to Germany with his wife (a wooden Jones) and ends up in a coma after a car crash, but after waking up a few days later, no one--wife included--recognizes him or believes he is who he claims to be. Mystery thriller relies on its twists (and the suspension of disbelief required to get there) as well as Neeson's dependable presence--he even gets to "plausibly" play both an ordinary, exasperated innocent and a formidable action hero. The secret becomes far easier to guess once Langella shows up; he and ex-Stasi agent Ganz possess a weary wisdom that nicely contrasts the slick but formulaic filmmaking. The sort of gimmicky suspenser that demands interest just to figure out what's going on, even as it becomes clearer with every passing minute and complication that it's going to be a letdown. Reminiscent of Roman Polanski's underappreciated "Frantic," which was also built out of contrivances and plot holes, but they were minuscule compared to the ones here.
55/100