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Unknown

Play trailer Poster for Unknown PG-13,  2011,  1h 53m,  Mystery & Thriller/ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 56% 199 Reviews Tomatometer 55% 50,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
56% Tomatometer 199 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
After a serious car accident in Berlin, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakes to find his world in utter chaos. His wife (January Jones) does not recognize him; another man is using his identity, and mysterious assassins are hunting him. The authorities do not believe his claims, and he must go on the run alone. With an unlikely ally (Diane Kruger), Martin leaps into a perplexing situation that will force him to discover how far he is willing to go for the truth.
Unknown

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Liam Neeson elevates the proceedings considerably, but Unknown is ultimately too derivative -- and implausible -- to take advantage of its intriguing premise.

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Critics Reviews

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Leonard Maltin leonardmaltin.com Jun 24, 2011
2.1/2
In the French-made, English-language sleeper Taken, Liam Neeson was a former CIA operative who was (outlandishly) able to thwart a sex-trafficking ring. Audiences responded vociferously to his take-charge character. His latest film, Unknown... Go to Full Review
William Goss Film.com Jun 21, 2011
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. Go to Full Review
Philip French Guardian Mar 7, 2011
Enjoy it and then forget it... Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Jul 31, 2023
2.5/4
Along with wanting humor, Unknown’s lacking sense of romance leaves the audience with nothing to root for except the promise that, by the end, Neeson will deliver some knockout blows to the bad guys. Go to Full Review
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Oct 4, 2022
C
This is a by-the-numbers thriller, in which nothing is what it seems, but nothing is what it seems in pretty much the way you’d expect, if that makes sense. Go to Full Review
Johnny Loftus Decider Jan 5, 2021
Fans of Neeson's Weaponized Old Guy roles will be sated by the times he goes mano a mano. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Poe P Apr 11, 2019 A intense thriller of a ride!
Anakin W Dec 26, 2018 It's all very Bourne Identity, but it has enough of it's own originality to make it worthwhile. Neeson puts in his usual solid performance, never less than professional that man. The support cast are strong with the exception of the talentless january Jones who can't act at all. It's a little hokey in parts but it does the job. Nice twist that explains all the questions you might have about why a botanist can drive like he does and such. It's a Liam Neeson film. Does what it says on the tin. See more
Anakin G Oct 21, 2018 Highly suspenseful. Liam Neeson is always believable and worth watching.
Albus G Sep 21, 2018 There seem to be so many of these grim Liam Neeson thrillers around that I thought I should see one to see why Hollywood thinks they are worth it. My reaction (to this one at least) is that these are by-the-numbers movies that try to include the main ingredients of other successful thrillers in order to win the box office jackpot. However, something this formulaic and generic probably will never go down in the annals of film history as one of the greats because it is just too calculated (methinks). Here, Neeson is a biotechnology professor who is in a car accident in Berlin that results in a four-day coma; when he awakes, without his passport, no one recognises him, even his wife, and there is some other dude claiming to be him. In order to unravel this mystery, he finds the taxi driver, an illegal immigrant played by Diane Kruger, who was driving when he crashed, and also gains the help of a former East German Stasi official played by Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire). Naturally, there are a few car chases, some hand-to-hand fighting, and a lot of dodging of bad guys who are stalking him. And, a twist, a movie like this has to have a twist these days. I'm not sure I'll watch another of these Neeson thrillers - even when I'm too tired for a challenge, this just seemed too rote, or average, at best. See more
Luke S Aug 11, 2018 I have seen this movie before, but this time it is set on earth in present time. Trying to capitalize on that "Taken" buzz, but a lackluster retread. See more
Jul 12, 2018 Just a bad movie. Not even cheesey bad where it's fun. It's awful. Way too far-fetched.
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Unknown

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a serious car accident in Berlin, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakes to find his world in utter chaos. His wife (January Jones) does not recognize him; another man is using his identity, and mysterious assassins are hunting him. The authorities do not believe his claims, and he must go on the run alone. With an unlikely ally (Diane Kruger), Martin leaps into a perplexing situation that will force him to discover how far he is willing to go for the truth.
Director
Jaume Collet-Serra
Producer
Joel Silver, Leonard Goldberg, Andrew Rona
Screenwriter
Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Panda
Rating
PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Action|Brief Sexual Content|Intense Sequences of Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 18, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$63.7M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS
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