Unknown
(2005)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: C+
Simon
Brand’s Unknown (2005) is an
ambitious “who knows what” thriller about a group of strangers who wake up in
the same industrial building no knowing what is going on. First, there is the man in a jeans jacket (an
effective Jim Caviezel) who finds the rest of the men unconscious or dead. As he investigates, some awake, some never
will. Then the phone rings, one that
woke him up to begin with. Will he
answer it? The fact that they are all
locked in the room gives him few choices.
Some of
the others (played by Joe Pantoliano, Barry pepper, Greg Kinnear, Jeremy Sisto)
have limited memories as well, but who should trust who? Though Matthew Waynee’s screenplay is not
bad, some of the dialogue and the ultimate conclusion do not work. The cast is good, including “outsiders”
played by Peter Stormare, Bridget Moynahan, Chris Mulkey, Wilmer Calderon and
David Selby. All could have settled for
worse, but this ultimately feels more like Saw
with a brain, but that is not enough to save the film despite its ambitions.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is shot (in whichever format) by the
talented cinematographer Steve Yeldin (from the terrific Brick, reviewed elsewhere on this site) who makes this more
compelling to watch no mater what the story flaws. This transfer is softer than one would like,
but would be interesting to see on film and in HD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix fares better with
good surrounds throughout and decently recorded dialogue. The only extra is 9 deleted scenes which are
interesting, though their presence in the film would not have made much of a
difference.
- Nicholas Sheffo
