Unknown - Liam Neeson suffers identity theft in a slick conspiracy thriller

Liam Neeson is such a solid screen presence that he's able to anchor outlandish Bourne-style conspiracy thriller Unknown, which rushes though a series of twists and turns at such a pace that the viewer scarcely has time to draw breath let alone ponder the plot’s implausibilities.

Neeson’s scientist, Dr. Martin Harris, is visiting Berlin for a biotechnology conference when his taxi gets involved in a car smash. Awakening in hospital after four days in a coma, he discovers his wife (Mad Men’s January Jones) no longer recognises him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity.

Has the trauma of the crash turned him crazy? Or are dirty deeds afoot? What do you reckon?

Rebuffed by the authorities and pursued by shadowy assassins, Harris seeks help from the kind of unlikely ally who always seems to turn up in this sort of film – a beautiful Bosnian-refugee-turned-taxi-driver, played by Diane Kruger from Inglorious Basterds.

It’s all tosh, of course, but great fun if you can suspend your disbelief.

On general release from 4th March.

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.