Jack Reviews: Unknown (2011)
When watching the trailer for
Unknown I was very excited to watch this preview and expected a lot, as the film reminded me of Liam Neeson’s 2008 action packed
Taken. However if you watch this film, you will come to realise very soon that this is not
Taken 2, as I did, and will be severely disappointed.
Unknown is the story of Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) who is involved in a car crash in Berlin and as a result is in a coma for four days. Upon waking, Elizabeth (January Jones), his wife of five years, no longer recognises him. But, if that wasn’t bad enough, there is someone else claiming that
he is Dr. Martin Harris and even has all the same documents. Harris struggles for people to believe him while being hunted by almost everyone, resulting in his growing paranoia and a lack of trust of those around him. To find out the truth Harris tracks down taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger) in an attempt to discover his past in order to redefine his future.
The film is a brainless exercise to pass a couple of hours without being taken seriously at all. Though, the fight scenes, at times, are very entertaining and there is quite a cool car chase towards the end of the film. But, the thing that really bothered me about this film was the total disregard towards the small details. At moments the dialogue became cringe-worthy with much of the cinema laughing during these moments. The editing during the fights scene was so quick it was hard to see who the hell was hitting who. And finally I just didn’t see a rapport between any of the characters with much of the acting below par. However, Neelson I feel does play the role very well and at 57 shows he can compete with actors half his age and can still teach them a thing or two. As I said before, you cannot really compare this film with
Taken as it is hard to have a change of character from a government secret agent to a biotech and still give off the true badass aura. The film seems as if it is forgetting which genre it is trying to portray: combining crime drama, action blockbuster, and mystery thriller into a confusing mess. It is an OK film but remember to
leave your logic behind before viewing this film.
2/5
Unknown is in cinemas March 4.
This is a bit of an unusual one. When I heard the name of MTV’s upcoming show dozens of potential ideas were buzzing around my head. But in most scenarios I really couldn’t see the premise working for more than a season. The name of the show defines how it may move forward. Similar to How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), they choose an interesting name, to draw attention, but also limited themselves in the future of the show, (the 'Mother' better be amazing after 6+ seasons of waiting). For better or worse the name attracted me to watch.
Coming from the channel that brought me Teen Wolf and Awkward, I was expecting good things. I wanted something different than the current offerings about dating (HIMYM and Friends with Benefits, not that I’m saying their bad it’s just they’re subject focused, Mother searching and sex respectively). What you get is a cross between How to Make It in America and Friends with Benefits, a show about hipsters in New York and their sex lives.
The show centres around twentysomething Jason who is ambling through life after graduating from college not sure of his next step. He has a dead-end job as midgets casting agent’s assistant (yes, seriously). Like HIMYM he is friends with a couple (people who he aspires to be like) and a promiscuous friend (female not male). To highlight this in the first episode it is quipped that she is only sleeping a guy because he has air conditioning “I like him, plus it's been really muggy lately".
I like the casting office job idea, the scenes this week with Dr Spa-cemen and midgets brought me a lot of joy (it’s wrong but I don’t care). They didn’t really get into the job other than the fact he hates and want to move into music journalism. If the casting office is for midgets only, I can see it getting a little stale but if it’s something different every week I can see it being a good source of laughs. Doing mini parodies in the same vein as Community could be brilliant.
The banter in the show was fun, particularly the Indian shopkeeper who cracked me up (a little bit of Apu from the Simpsons). I liked the how the conversation were realistic, most conversations in real life not really emotional, life affirming or changing, it’s usually about the stupid shit we get up to and the crap we get from our friends for it. Most of the jokes are cheap and quick, based on how close friends would actually be with one another. Saying that, every other included a quip or an obscure reference, though quotable and enjoyable at first it became a little tedious. It’s as if the entire cast has the wit of Diablo Cody (aaarrggghhh!)
Overall I liked the show as it was an easy watch with likable characters. If the dialogue didn’t remind me so much of Juno I would have liked it a little more. Again the show has 2 of things that keep watching and interested; a hot girl and it makes me laugh. And I will continue to watch this show if only to learn new ways to pick up hipster chicks (J). The show based on the pilot can become one of my new favourite shows but I reserving judgement till I get a few more episodes in.
Pilot Rating: 3.5/5
Memorable Quotes:
“I’m not touching it, I don’t pick the phone when I masturbate… unless I’m at work”
“Nobody will robbed, raped or murdered in this store… not again”
“So… is everything dreadlocked?.. Shush… Let me be surprised…”
“Hello Tina. See I’m nice to you today because of your festering neck wound”
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