Search - Unknown on DVD

Bogged down by the unknown...

Joshua Mallett | Tucson, AZ USA | 03/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie has a very startling beginning. Can you imagine waking up in an unfamiliar location one day, feeling like you were hit over the head with a steel pipe, and not know who you are or why you're there? Imagine also being locked up in this place with a few other people who are scattered across the room just as bloodied and beaten up as you are. To me, it doesn't get much more frightening than this, and so you'll find yourself immediately intrigued and thrilled to find out what will happen to these characters next. Of course, after the first hour of the same questions being asked over and over again, you may find yourself a bit bored and just wondering outloud, "let's get to the point already!" Very memorable performance by Greg Kinnear here, with excellent acting from Jim Caviezel and Barry Pepper as well. And when the movie DOES get to the last 15 minutes, you will find yourself even more excited than you were in the first 15 minutes. It does take awhile to get there (even though this film isn't very long), but it is well worth the wait. I think some may find this movie a worthy purchase, and others a memorable rental. I purchased the movie and am happy enough, but had I seen it in theatres I may not have gone out to buy the DVD. But since this movie was only shown in a few theatres (I think 10) across the country, I never had the opportunity.

Definitely check this movie out. It's worth watching for the incredible cast! I'm still surprised this didn't get more recognition with the kind of star-power it had going for it; not to mention it's far better than most of the poor excuses for movies the theatres release lately..."

Hello! My Name Is _________________

Mark Eremite | Seoul, South Korea | 04/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Amnesia is a tough act to sell. Proven fickle in doctor's offices, unpinnable in medical textbooks, and about as comprehensible as the consciousness it attacks, Memory Loss is a device that can propel a story (see Memento or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) as much as it can cause it to stall (see 50 First Dates or Paycheck).

When its used as a gimmick, as a way to surgically graft suspense and intrigue into a script that would otherwise have none, it usually fails. But when it is a real part of the character, when it illuminates ideas explored by the entire storyline, it can prove useful.

"Unknown" falls somewhere between the two. The movie goes whole hog with its amnesia: five men wake up, locked in a warehouse, all of them suffering from gaps in the mind, apparantly caused by the leaking of some toxic chemicals. They are beaten, broken, bruised, shot, and -- in two cases -- chained and bound. After a bit of sleuthing, they realize that three of them are kidnappers, and the other two are their victims, but no one has any idea which is which.

To make matters worse, the three kidnappers at the warehouse are only part of a larger group. Through phone calls they learn that the other half of their team is soon to return, ransom money in hand (and -- unknowingly -- cops on their tails). The infrequent jumps to these moments -- at the drop-off point, trailing the bad guys, detectives consoling distraught wives -- are necessary, but they staunch some of the suspense that the central story tries so hard to set up.

The script tries to take things all across the board, using the whole gamut of emotions (and some clever, if not repetitive, dialogue) to show off its idea of the tabula rasa in all men. Without pasts, without memories, who is ANYBODY? What makes a bad guy bad and vice versa? Or are such labels meaningless? It's all too profound.

Okay, it's not TOO profound, although it gets pretty labored there near the end, when realizations start to creep back into the gassed men's heads and they come to terms, in their own ways, with who they used to be, and who they believe they are now. And as these memories tumble back with an ever-increasing rhythm, the story just as quickly crumbles, twists and double-crosses and surprises piling out and on top of each other so rapidly they become mostly pointless.

In spite of the over-eager excess of the story (the director and screenwriter are both relative newbies), the cast -- James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan, Joe Pantoliano, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Sisto, Peter Stormare -- do a bang-up job. This array of excellent performers works hard to smooth out the places where the story wears thin or clumps up with cliche, and they work even better in this ensemble environment. The story may stall on its own flooded plot engine, but the actors and actresses keep pushing it along at a pretty steady clip. Impressive turn-out all around, even if the end product is, well, rather forgettable."