Unknown (2011)

Some time ago I've seen a trailer for a movie called "The Double". I didn't see the movie (I don't even know if it already had a wide release) but I'm afraid it doesn't make any sense to do it anymore ... Actually, I'm wondering if it wasn't postponed to allow them to redo/extend the ending. Because in the two-three minutes of the trailer you have pretty much everything: the intrigue, the action, and what seems to be the main twist. Yes, I know ... the title of the current posting is "Unknown", not "The Double". But besides the genre which seems common between the two = sort of a la Bourne spy thriller, there is also some other similar thing, guess which ... the trailer "effect" of course.

To be fair ... "Unknown" is still a bit more censored in the trailer contents, but if you have a pretty big amount of movies seen is impossible to not get the main idea. Which is also confirmed in the first seconds of the movie if you're paying attention. We have a couple formed from Martin & Liz Harris, he apparently being a biology doctor invited to a top level conference in Berlin. After they get to the hotel he realizes that one briefcase from the luggage was forgotten at the airport & goes back to get it. With a cab. Which cab (driven by an illegal immigrant woman) ends up in a river (I guess it's called Spree). After he's saved by the woman who was driving, Mr. Harris from the coma in the fourth day since he was hospitalized. Without having any papers, and intrigued that his wife didn't search for him does the obvious thing to do = runs quickly at the hotel to find her. But ... no love ... or more exactly big surprise ... he finds her along her .. husband, a new Dr. Martin Harris, with a passport, family pictures, memories, etc. And since Ms. Harris seems to like more the new one, the only option left (and strongly suggested by the hotel security) is to take the way back to the hospital, followed by the inevitable question "Who am I ?". Well .. I'm not going to continue further. I already said "a la Bourne" in the beginning and there is also the trailer (which I'm still in doubt to post or not). To "compensate", there is a sort of twist in the ending, but to be honest it's a bit to simple compared to the rest of the action to qualify as an event with a major impact in the story.

Except the fact that the movie is ultra-spoiled if you've seen the trailer, in the end if you draw a line you might end up with a relatively good production. And again I have to refer to Bourne = you might expect something that gets close to that level. Liam Neeson is ok as main character (which despite my expectations is quite different from the part in "Taken") and the action is pretty dense to be catchy for this genre. To add more you have also the cinematography which is really nice in some scenes (like the intro). However ... the script is a bit far fetched about many aspects = from the type of "amnesia" the main character got to the way the image of the scientific community is portrayed (financing from Arab princes who are invited at top tier biotechnology conferences ... come on ...).

The conclusion, to get back to the starting idea, is that if you're in the mood for a decent action thriller and according to what I wrote above this one looks like a feasible option, maybe it's better to skip the trailer. It's probably one of the few cases where it says more than my long writings :) ...

Rating: 3 out of 5

... but :p if you want the short version :