Unknown

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 18th February, 2011
Time : 113 minutes
Director : Jaume Collet-Serra; Writers : Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell (based on the novel ‘Out of My Head’ by Didier Van Cauwelaert); Music : John Ottman, Alexander Rudd
Starring : Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch, Aidan Quinn, Mido Hamada

This one is intriguing but too farfetched and requires logic to be pushed nearly completely aside.



An American professor in Berlin is almost drowned when his taxi plunges into the river. When he comes to, three days have elapsed and his memory of the past seems hazy. More worryingly, when he does get his memory back, his wife doesn’t recognize him at all and is with another man who has all the ID to prove that actually he is the professor.


The movie moves at a good pace, gathers steam and Liam’s acting is a definite plus. The issues start when you ask yourself ‘Why’ or ‘Couldn’t they have done it another way’ (both the villain & the hero) ? Some endearing, well-etched but stereotypical characters – the old man, ex-Stasi, who is now a private investigator or the pretty Polish immigrant who drives a taxi to earn a living – help us to keep watching till the closing credits.



However, the ending is particularly funny, though unintentionally so. Such an elaborate plot for this ? Surely there was an easier way to have done this ? Reminded me of the adage in Hindi which loosely translated means "dug a mountain to find only a rat"...