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Unknown

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Unknown (2006)

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Reviews Counted:42

Fresh:15

Rotten:27

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: Though it boasts a talented cast, this thriller fails to make you care about the twisty mystery of the men's identities and situation.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:13-04-2007

Synopsis: Five men awaken in a warehouse with no way out and no recollection of how they got there, only to struggle with their suspicion of each other as they try to piece together their story from... Five men awaken in a warehouse with no way out and no recollection of how they got there, only to struggle with their suspicion of each other as they try to piece together their story from available clues. One (Greg Kinnear) has a broken nose, while another (Jeremy Sisto) is handcuffed to a pipe and slowly dying from a gunshot wound. Two (Barry Pepper and Jim Caviezel) are unhurt, while the fifth (Joe Pantoliano) is tied to a chair--which is how the group wish to keep him until they figure out why he got that way. Meanwhile, the police are tracking a sinister man in snakeskin boots (Peter Stormare) with a connection to the group, and a worried wife (Bridget Moynihan) of one of the men searches desperately for her husband. But will the men kill each other out of suspicion before finding a way out of the warehouse? The second half of the '90s saw a spate of neo-noirs inspired by Tarantino's supercharged RESERVOIR DOGS. Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO (2000), though in obvious debt to Tarantino, was a breathtakingly new shot in the arm for the genre. Simon Brand's UNKNOWN is a brainy and verbose melding of the two. Making its low budget work in its favor, the script could easily be performed on a stage, as the locations number in the low single digits. Though many young pulp-drunk post-Tarantino directors have toyed with non-linear narratives, Matthew Waynee's script doesn't make the device seem rote or overindulgent. Also a small, strong cast led by Caviezel, Kinnear, and Pepper ensure this solid thriller isn't just another entry in the tough-guy crime stakes. [More]

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Jim Caveziel, Barry Pepper

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Jim Caveziel, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Sisto, Bridget Moynahan, Peter Stormare

Director: Simon Brand

Director: Simon Brand
Producer: Rick Lashbrook, John S. Schwartz
Composer: Angelo Milli
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Reviews for Unknown

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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goes round in circles, with petty arguments and lengthy monologues making the minutes drag in what ought to be a taut thriller.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/12/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
04/14/07
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/14/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
04/12/07
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enjoyable thriller with superb performances, a decent plot and some thought-provoking ideas about identity and human nature underneath its twisty tale.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/12/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Gimmicky but effective, this claustrophobic thriller has such an intriguing premise that it keeps us entertained even as it gets increasingly contrived.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
01/27/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

click for full review in Greek

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
10/14/07
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

A knife-sharp psychological action thriller.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International

This is the work of filmmakers so satisfied with a story that isn't the least bit satisfying.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/05/07
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

Never rises above the level of a promising calling card, but there's something refreshing about its innate sense of its own B-movieness.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
02/04/07
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

A premissa é instigante, mas, infelizmente, quanto mais descobrimos sobre a trama, menos interessante o filme se torna.

comment Comment
01/14/07
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

UNKNOWN works as a puzzle and it provides a fine ride for audiences. It has audacity and invention and marks the emergence of a couple of behind-the-scenes talents to watch.

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
12/30/06
culturevulture.net
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a good little thriller lurking somewhere in the depths of "Unknown," but it never quite rises to the surface.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
12/15/06
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

You wish some of the plot holes had been spackled better.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/15/06
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

The gimmick is all worn out, the script never makes us believe its epidemic of memory loss could ever happen, and its crescendo of third-act plot twists play like a desperate patch job on a concept that just didn't come off.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
12/14/06
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A nifty little psychological crime thriller that suggests a Treasure of the Sierra Madre for the postindustrial age.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/14/06
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

It's a good gimmick, but still a gimmick, and we're left with more confusion than tension.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/08/06
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle

Unknown is far from a perfect movie, but it's more amusing than many better-made ones.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/30/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

a brief but thrilling defibrillator shock to the moribund crime film genre.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/28/06
Keith Breese
Keith Breese
Filmcritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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