Rating: M
Release Date: 17 February 2011
Running Time: 113 minutes
American Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) wakes up from a four day coma after being involved in a car accident in Berlin. He searches for his wife Liz (January Jones) at their hotel only to discover that she doesn’t recognise him and someone else has taken on his identity. Without a passport he has to prove his identity. In his quest for answers he employs the services of Ernst Jurgen (Bruno Ganz) ex Stasi from the cold war era of East Germany. Ernst uses his past intelligence contacts to search for the truth and contacts Dr Harris’ work colleague Rodney Cole (Frank Langella) whilst Dr Harris searches for more information from taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger) who dragged him to safety from his accident.
Directed by Jaume Collet- Serra it starts well with the amazing opening car crash scene but unfortunately this action thriller has several credibility gaps. Such as why has he no ID in his wallet, wouldn’t the police be involved in trying to track down his identity when he admitted to hospital and oh so conveniently he comes across the services of Bruno Ganz who actually happens to believe his story for little gain etc., etc. Liam Neeson seems to enjoy reliving his action man status gained through the popular “Taken” however this plot is more reminiscent of the “Bourne” series. Diane Kruger (Inglorious Bastards) does her Germanic best in this film and puts in a credible performance as well as being stunning to “das boot”. It is nice to see an unconventional “older” action hero for a change and Neeson fits the bill however his character lacks definition and he appears pedestrian like. If it wasn’t for the support of Ganz and Kruger he would stand out like a sore thumb. and the change between scientist to kick ass expert borders on the unbelievable and no amount of plot twists help it to be convincing otherwise. January Jones as his wife looks wooden and wide eyed with Aidan Quinn as the “other” Dr Harris, marginally better.
If you go in looking for an action thriller and you’re willing to suspend your belief and just go on a car chase then you will probably enjoy this.
3/5 stars
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