Sienna Miller, Ron Howard, Aubrey Plaza, Diego Luna, and more Sundance 2020 stars nominate the one movie you should drop everything and watch right now.
See who stopped by the IMDb Studio to chat with Kevin Smith at Acura Festival Village during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Unknown Identity (2011)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| 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 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 | |
 |
Helen Wiebensohn | ... | Laurel Bressler |
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? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Multiple people have compared this to Neeson's 2008 release of "Taken." Both have a similar concept; Liam goes on a fast-paced journey to retrieve something special that has been taken from him. This time it is not his daughter; it is his mind. Unlike "Taken," "Unknown" is more of a suspense mystery than an action flick. There are some chases and fight scenes, but that is not the main focus. The movie's plot is focus and it is unique for it is unpredictable. We are confused like Neeson's character and there are times we don't know if he will succeed. There are multiple twists and unlike most mystery thrillers, it took me more than half through the film to figure it all out.
In short, "Unknown" is a fairly decent mystery thriller. Good performances. Good story for a mystery. Good music. Good cinematography—I particularly like the whole gray, dreary atmosphere that reflects the film's location's bleak weather. Good twists. Good suspense— the sound mixers must've had a kick in adding emphasis on sound effects to startle the audience. The one thing I will note is that Liam Neeson is really showing his age. This is not necessarily a bad thing; on the contrary, it helps his character out. It gets tiresome that Hollywood always uses the generic 30-something year old actor with smashing abs who is tossed into a terrible situation. It is nice to see an aging actor play an upper middle-aged man who has perhaps lost his mind while running away from people trying to kill him.