After a man awakens from a coma, he discovers that someone has taken on his identity and that no one identifies him anymore or even belief him, he must do all he can to uncover the truth.
What started as a mildly intriguing innocent-man-wrongly-accused pseudo-thriller just turns into series of lame implausibilites in pursuit of an ending.
The cat-and-mouse game that the filmmakers are playing with us is only partially successful because this thriller is only intermittently thrilling. Instead of being captivated by the twist and turns, we're more likely to be rankled.
Neeson's comforting intelligence (and a marvelous turn by Bruno Ganz as an ailing former member of the East German secret police), are not enough to prevent the film from choking on obviousness and directorial fumbling.
Unknown" obviously knows its limitations, and it doesn't bother to rise above them. It just keeps throwing the punches the audience wants and expects. It won't cure world hunger, but chances are it will sell a lot of popcorn.
An exciting film that moviegoers will enjoy - even if they leave with a somewhat ambiguous understanding of the story that was unfolding outside of Neeson's character.
As the film progresses, it becomes incomprehensible. The twists are too preposterous and the plot holes are too plentiful, making Unknown an absolute mess.
May eventually surrender to convention and implausibility in equal measure, but until then, Collet-Serra grounds the conspiracy with a proper sense of mystery and mood.
