Unknown (2011)

A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.

Director:

Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers:

Oliver Butcher (screenplay), Stephen Cornwell (screenplay),

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liam Neeson	...	Dr. Martin Harris
Diane Kruger	...	Gina
January Jones	...	Elizabeth Harris
Aidan Quinn	...	Martin B
Bruno Ganz	...	Ernst Jürgen
Frank Langella	...	Rodney Cole
Sebastian Koch	...	Professor Leo Bressler
Olivier Schneider	...	Smith
Stipe Erceg	...	Jones
Rainer Bock	...	Herr Strauss
Mido Hamada	...	Prince Shada
Clint Dyer	...	Biko
Karl Markovics	...	Dr. Farge
Eva Löbau	...	Nurse Gretchen Erfurt
Helen Wiebensohn	...	Laurel Bressler

Storyline

A biochemist and his dishy wife arrive in Berlin for a conference at which a scientist and his controversial Arab funder will announce breakthrough research. While his wife checks into the hotel, he grabs a cab to return to the airport for his briefcase, left at the curb. En route, an auto accident puts him in a coma, from which he awakes four days later without identification and with gaps in his memory. He goes to the hotel: his wife refuses to recognize him and another man has claimed his identity. With help from a nurse, the cab driver, a retired Stasi agent, and an academic friend, he tries to unravel what's going on. Is the answer in the briefcase?

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | coma | airport | luggage | briefcase | 

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Taglines:

Take back your life.

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Genres:

Action | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Kinowelt [de] Official site [fr]

Country:

UK Germany France Canada Japan USA

Language:

English German Turkish Arabic

Release Date:

18 February 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Unknown White Male

Filming Locations:

Tresor, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,356,345 (UK) (4 March 2011)

Gross:

£6,432,496 (UK) (15 April 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dark Castle Entertainment, Panda Productions Inc., Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to his passport, Martin Harris was born on June 7th. This is also the birthday of Liam Neeson who portrays Dr. Harris.

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Goofs

When Harris is in following Liz and gets a text message from Gina, the date in the message is 29-03-2010 but when right before it cuts back to him we see the date on the phone is actually 26-11-2011.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pilot's Voice: Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning our descent into Berlin Tegel, where local time is 8:30 AM, and the temperature is a cool minus four degrees.
Dr. Martin Harris: Morning.
Elizabeth Harris: Did you sleep?
Dr. Martin Harris: No. I'll sleep at the hotel.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are shown as clouds being viewed from an airplane blow past... not so crazy, except that it actually makes one of the credits unreadable.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.97 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Quartet Major"
Performed by Paul Durham
Paul Durham -- Black Labyrinth Music (BMI)
Donald J. Hofer -- YRSK Publishing (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Songs for Film & TV obo Black Lab

User Reviews

Nail-biting and exciting thriller stunningly directed by the Spanish director Jaume Collet -Serra

Action movie plenty of thrills , suspense , intrigue , twists and turns . It deals with a biochemist named Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his pretty wife (January Jones ) arrive in Berlin for a conference at which a scientist (Sebastian Koch) and his controversial Arab funder (Hamada) will announce breakthrough research about plans to revolutionize food production . After a car accident Martin awakens from a coma , only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one , not even his wife , believes him . With the help of a young woman (Diane Kruger) , he sets out to prove who he is . He confronts enemies in order to find out location his own identity , but someone is still after him and is forced to take up violent means to survive , being chased by strange pursuers . He takes the law on his own hands and acting as a desperate person . Then Martin goes to see the private detective, Ernst Jurgen (Bruno Ganz), a former Stasi officer who helps him .

This exciting film contains suspense , thrills , noisy action, shootouts , violent fights and plot twits . From start to final the frantic action and fast movement is unstopped . Liam Neeson is top-notch acting as a man without identification and with gaps in his memory . Gorgeous actresses as January Jones and Diane Kruger as a cab woman accompany efficiently to starring . Good support cast with excellent German actors as Bruno Ganz and Sebastian Koch , and American as Frank Langella and Aidan Quinn . Colorful cinematography by cameraman Flavio Martinez Labiano using Steadicam and with numerous locations from Berlin . The musician John Ottman creates a stirring , moving soundtrack fitting to frenetic action . Lavishly produced including spectacular scenes by the successful American producer Joel Silver . The flick was compellingly directed by Jaume Collet-Serra . Collet is an expert director of terror movies as ¨Orphan¨, ¨House of wax¨ and for TV , ¨The river¨ . Rating : Better than average, well worth seeing . The picture will appeal to explosive action fans .