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Unknown |
Product Guide |
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Unknown  Rating: Rating:  - Surprising indie that should have made it big.Unknown (Simon Brand, 2006) Surprisingly good little not-quite-direct-to-video thriller (in its widest release, it played on six screens in America and eleven in Taiwan) with a cast that makes me wonder why no one wanted to give it a wide release: Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Joe Pantoliano (Memento), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan), Jeremy Sisto (May), Peter Stormare (Bruiser)... what about this cast doesn't say "makes back its $3.7 million budget on opening weekend", Hollywood? The plot: five men (Caviezel, Sisto, Kinnear, Pantoliano, and Pepper) wake up in a warehouse. All of them have lost their memories. It's obvious something very, very wrong happened: Pantoliano (forgive me; none of them get names until the very end of the film, and in the credits are referred to by pieces of clothing, so I'll use the actors' names) is tied to a chair, Sisto is handcuffed to a railing. All five are trying to figure out who the good guys and the bad guys are, what happened to their memories, and most importantly, how to get out of this stinkin' warehouse before whoever caused whatever happened shows up again. Meanwhile, in a second storyline, the bad guys, headed up by Stormare, are picking up the ransom money from a kidnapping. (You see where we're going here?) They outfox the cops. Said cops try to figure out how to follow them back to their hideout before it's too late-- now that they have the ransom money, what do they need with the hostage? While the common "don't any of these guys have wallets?" complaint is probably a valid one, I was willing to suspend disbelief enough to run with it, and I thought it was a fun thrill ride. Matthew Waynee's script is well-paced for this sort of thing, feeding the audience a tidbit of information or two every time it looks like things are going to flag, or sending out a sightseer who completely misses the fact that a bunch of guys are yelling for help two hundred yards or so away. Meanwhile, everyone's trying to figure out who everyone else is, and most of the time, that alone is enough to keep this cracking. As is to be expected from the cast list, the acting is quite good here, certainly on a par with many of the big-budget Hollywood blockbusters I've seen recently. I ask again, Hollywood, what happened with the distribution on this one? *** ½ Rating:  - Intriguing up until the final frame....This movie has a great plot with good acting. The plot twists keep coming for a group of men who aren't certain if they are good guys or bad guys. Five men with temporary amnesia awake in a locked room where two are good and three are bad. They try to deduce who is who and what is going on. This will keep you guessing way past the climax and up into the resolution. A mindblowing performance. Rating:  - Good Concept, Average ExecutionFive men in a warehouse, snapping out of collective amnesia that hides a series of violent events, sets an intriguing plot for this reasonably good thriller. A few mysterious phone calls clue us and them into the imminent arrival of characters whose motivation can't be good, and who are linked to one or more of the five trapped men ..... therefore a few of them can't be saints either. This intriguing Who's Who of the warehouse moves the plot along and does a good job of maintaining viewer interest. Comparisons have been made to Memento, but this Unknown's plot is essentially constructed in forward time, rather than an overall backtracking central to Memento. A more apt comparison is Reservoir Dogs, and like that film, which entertained and intrigued, I left this one with the feeling of seeing only 80% of a movie. I would like to have left this experience with more connection to the characters' backstory and motivation. To the extent we get background, it is through a series of perfunctory flashbacks. Sure, the director is trying to simulate glimmers of returning memory experienced by the trapped men, but as the film clocks in at less than 90 minutes, there must have been a time and place to provide some more flesh. The twist at the end could have used a bit more beef and artistry as well. The film resolves, winks at us, and as we say to ourselves 'oh, so THAT's what's happening", the credits roll, and they roll a bit too soon. For some of the reasons listed above, I developed little sympathy for the characters or their plight. It doesn't help that most of them are foul-mouthed and given to insulting each other at every turn. I'm no prude, but the 'F' word is littered through this screenplay, and inhibits the development of any viewer rapport with these individuals. Joe Pantoliano, whose acerbic presence in Memento carried a certain charm, is here reduced obnoxious whining, and spends most of the film tied to a chair. Jeremy Sisto, who has taken up some interesting projects (Suicide Kings, Paranoia 1.0, and Population 436) spends most of the time hanging from a railing. Overall this will make a good rental, just don't expect to leave the experience with any sort of lasting connection with the proceedings. Like the skimpy character development in the movie, the DVD is bare-bones, with the movie and ..... let's see, that's it. Rating: - Still not sure what i think of it...but it was entertainingAs most people have already written about the premise of the movie i will avoid going over that part again and just focus on what i liked and didnt like about the film. First of all the cast were excellent and they all did a great job. The director and the screenwriter were both excellent as well. I stayed on the edge of the seat trying to guess who was who and it did have many twists and turns in it to keep you guessing, however the ending did not quite satisfy me but i really want to watch the movie again and see what i really think of it. I'm still trying to figure out the point of the film (which seems to be no matter who you are you will always be this person but you can choose to change, which means you will not always be who you are...so thats pretty confusing)Anyway it was a very entertaining film and i would recommend this as a rental to anyone who likes psychological type movies that keep you guessing such as memento or identity. While this one was not as good as those it was still good enough for at least one more viewing. |
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