Film Review - Unknown (2011)

UNKNOWN

reviewer Dexter Kong
Rated: 15 (UK)
Drector: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger , January Jones,Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella

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Unknown, is pretty much the Friendster to the Bourne series’s Facebook. By this I mean, while essentially being the exact same thing, it is somewhat redundant.In the beginning, I genuinely found it quite promising as a thriller. There are nice Hitchcockian moments of paranoia from Liam Neeson’s character, that formed a sinister undertone which I found to be engaging. But, as the plot unravels, the film’s content just felt more watered down and devolved to a rather bland, almost rose coloured fairytale ending.

The pairing of Neeson and January Jones as a couple, I found to be quite unbelievable from the offset. This most probably soured a reveal moment for me and lead to possibly one of the most awkward shower sex scenes in a movie. Neeson felt like his typical self and did not really deliver much enthusiasm to the role, the same can be said for the aloof January Jones.

It is unfortunate because there is potential here. On the surface Unknown wants to be a smart thriller, but in essence felt as if they took an interesting concept and attached it to an 80’s action script. Although, if I pitched it as “The Third Man meets True Lies”, you would probably be sold on it.