Liam Neeson is one of the most versatile actors of any generation. He’s been Darkman. He’s been a Jedi. He’s saved Jews for Spielberg. He’s worked for Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, John Boorman, Ridley Scott, Neil Jordan and Kathryn Bigelow. But though he’d been in action movies before, 2008’s Taken turned him into an honest-to-goodness action star; it’s why they cast him as Hannibal in The A-Team. Neeson can navigate from presitge projects to grindhouse junk and no one questions his ability to do either.
So now we’ve got a trailer for his latest: Unknown. Neeson stars as someone who goes into a coma and comes out with his entire life stolen. The trailer shows January Jones as his wife, Diane Kruger as his cab driver, and Frank Langella and Adian Quinn looking unhelpful. This appears to be the first released film to capitalize on January’s Mad Men fame (it won’t be the last), and this looks like Diane Kruger’s big role post-Inglourious Basterds, so it’s trying to tap into some now-hot actors. Like Frank Langella. Actually, I noticed that Bruno Ganz is in the cast, and he’s everyone’s favorite non-Michael Landon angel.
This is from director Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously directed Orphan, which had a twist that must be seen to be believed (I haven’t seen it, so I don’t believe it). There’s some car stunts in this, and the end of the trailer hints at some fist based fighting. My concern is that this is selling the action and suspense harder than it exists in the film, and this could be Edge of Darkness Redux – but now with the missing French colonist sequence. Well, Collet-Serra seems to know his way around genre tropes, so I’ll benefit of the doubt him. For now.
Anyway, here’s the trailer, and it looks like good trash. It’s due out in January. January 2011. I can already see the January (Jones) in January jokes.