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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Unknown

EMAILPRINTThe Weinstein Company

Unknown reviews
44
7.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Mystery  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Matthew Waynee

Directed by: Simon Brand

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 3, 2006
DVD: January 30, 2007

Running Time: 98 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Bridget Moynahan, Barry Pepper, and Jeremy Sisto

Unknown unfolds in the style of "Memento," a story told in reverse with an unforeseeable ending. Five men wake up trapped in a chemical warehouse with no memory of who they are or how they got there. They are forced to try to figure out who is good and evil before it's too late. (The Weinstein Co.)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Music video director Simon Brand makes an impressively taut debut with Unknown, a nifty little psychological crime thriller that suggests a "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" for the postindustrial age.

Read Full Review >
63

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's an entertaining diversion whose clever structure gives pulp-crime cliches a welcome twist.

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60

Variety Ronnie Scheib

Brand has assembled a cast of world class improvisers, yet doesn't take advantage of their own particularized, inflected rhythms, as each ritualistically experiences a jump-cut fragmentary flashback in front of the same bathroom mirror.

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58

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Unknown seems fairly stale and unoriginal, mainly because it's yet another movie with the short-term memory loss premise ("Memento," "Fifty First Dates," etc.), and it comes so late in the cycle that it feels like a dying gasp.

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50

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Unknown is punchy and entertaining. Maybe not the sort of thing you'd want to spend $10 plus a mortgage for popcorn on, but a nifty surprise on DVD several months from now -- or on pay-cable on-demand right now.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Despite a clever script and top-notch cast, whose commitment to doing service in the indie branch of the industry is commendable, Unknown falls apart just when it should be coming together.

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50

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Unfortunately, the film's charm ends with the plot gimmick.

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50

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

Director Simon Brand channels both "Saw" and "Reservoir Dogs" (good influences, both) to propel his main story forward, and even gets nicely twisty when the climax comes, but it's hard to escape the feeling that the B-story was added in to pad the film's running time.

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50

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

While Brand manages a couple of effectively brutal bits of violence, Matthew Waynee's gassy screenplay is all premise and no propulsion.

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50

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

It all comes together at the end, logically and with a twist. But it's not a game that allows the audience to play along. When the story is controlled by whatever memories the writer and director choose to put in the characters' heads, you're always on the outside looking in.

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50

New York Post Kyle Smith

To kill 80 minutes, the movie has to pad itself with several dull speeches and stagy moments. The worst? How about when the five men, who have ample reason to fear each other and are facing a life-or-death reckoning, whistle "Ode to Joy" together like a bunch of Whiffenpoofs?

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42

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Unknown manages a hat trick by making its march toward the climax so tedious and unlikely that it unravels even as it gets off the ground.

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40

Village Voice Jean Oppenheimer

The pacing is slightly off, with the action switching between the imprisoned men and the police who are trying to find them, and what should be a mounting sense of urgency inside the warehouse (think Reservoir Dogs) falters and goes slack.

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40

The New York Times Laura Kern

After a whole lot of buildup, and a real letdown of a payoff, the only enigma left is why we should care.

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40

Empire James Dyer

Moderately lame horror.

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30

Los Angeles Times Sam Adams

The movie's disinterest in character might be forgivable were its plot not riddled with holes.

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30

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Feeble exercise in brain-teaser noir.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Annie E. gave it a10:
I loved it. Witty and exciting. Great script, great twists.

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