UNKNOWN
Rick Lashbrook Films/Eleven Eleven Films
98 min., dir. by Simon Brand, with Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, and Joe Pantoliano
Imagine waking up in a tightly secured warehouse in the middle of the desert with absolutely no memory of how you got there. Scattered around the room are other men still unconscious. One is tied to a chair, another facedown with a broken nose, the remaining handcuffed to a railing and wounded from a gunshot. But after staring at your own reflection in the mirror, you face the most frightening fact of all: you have no idea who you are.
Starring Jim Caviezel (The Passion of The Christ, Frequency) as the film’s main protagonist, Unknown tells the tale of five men who wake up without any knowledge of their own identities thanks to a spilled canister of harmful gas. Trapped by a electronically locked steel door and barred windows made of reinforced glass, the confused men discover a newspaper clipping which reveals two of them have been kidnapped and the other three are the kidnappers. After a mysterious phone call alerts them that other bad guys will be there to “finish the job” come sundown, the uneasy five struggle to figure out who is good and who is evil before time runs out.
This indie thriller is being marketed as “in the vein of Memento and The Usual Suspects.” Although inferior to both films in said comparison, Unknown still makes for a very entertaining and well-executed mystery. In fact, it may be the best “guys in a warehouse” film since Reservoir Dogs. After all, it’s hard not to enjoy watching a cast which includes Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Joe Pantoliano (“The Sopranos”), Barry Pepper (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), and Jeremy Sisto (“Six Feet Under”). However, as stellar as the cast is — and despite the great performances each delivers — it is interesting to note that the telling of this film’s particular story might have been more effective had the actors been “unknown” themselves. Thanks to years of typecasting, guessing who is bad and who is good is a little easier than perhaps it should’ve been. Although these characters have no memory of who they are, the viewers already know quite a bit about them. I will admit, however, the film wouldn’t have been half as fun without these familiar faces.
The only other negative criticism that this film might lend itself to is the addition of one too many twists in its conclusion. After finishing watching the movie with a friend and colleague, we immediately turned to each other and said “was that last part really necessary?” Who doesn’t enjoy a good twist, but films such as Saw III have reminded us that it’s incredibly obvious when a filmmaker is trying too hard. Had Unknown stopped five minutes earlier, it would’ve been close to containing a flawless plot. Fortunately, the superb quality of the other 99 percent of the film makes the M. Night Shyamalan-esque “shocker” forgivable.
And speaking of Saw, don’t be surprised to see camerawork reminiscent of the popular horror trilogy. Not to say that the cinematography is a rip off of any sorts, but rather an effective and appropriate style choice given the film’s dark subject matter. Even the color schemes of the scenes taking place within the warehouse are nicely portrayed in dark blues, which compliment the shadiness of the character’s backgrounds. Like you, I’ve never heard of Simon Brand either, but it appears he knows what he’s doing at the directing helm.
If you’re looking for a darker flick with good thrills, and have already caught the usual wide release norms, check out Unknown, a film that proves not all indie movies need to be artsy or deep. Sometimes they can just be plain ol’ cool.
