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Cecil says:

This film felt like a combination of The Bourne Identity, The Terminator and, as with so many American films these days, Scoobie-Doo. But it’s set in Berlin, which gave it a bit of exoticism and felt good for both Bea and me since we have fond memories of travelling there in earlier years; and it has a fantastic bit of acting from one of my favourite actors of all time: Bruno Ganz.

The plot: American couple arrive in Berlin for a big world conference on the biotech industry. A series of disasters befalls them, culminating in a car accident which leaves male lead (Liam Neeson) with confusion and his wife (January Johnson – Betty in Mad Men) apparently in a parallel life with a different man.

It’s the kind of start to a film that makes you see your own life in perspective. However bad your day might just have been, it’s nothing compared to this.

And the plot builds nicely, as we stay with Neeson, trying to convince the world that he really is the scientist who flew in for this biotech conference. He engages ex-Stasi private detective (Ganz) who just gives the whole film an extra quality with his fantastic character-acting, and some great lines about the psychology of the Communist-regime Stasi methods.

It somehow lost me when suddenly we were thrown into a dramatic car chase through the streets of Berlin, the like of which seemed to be a mainstay of all American films in the 60s and 70s, but which I hadn’t really seen for some time. It just became too unreal at that stage, and any extra drama points from the screeching brakes and hand-brake turns are lost on me as I search for a connection to a reality I can relate to.

It was from this point that the Scoobie-Doo and Terminator feel somehow, amazingly combined to make me care even less about the outcome.

And as the film ends, we return to the biotech theme, and I couldn’t help wondering if the whole thing had been funded by the biotech industry, given the conclusions they come to on genetically-modified food; though note also the subliminal reference to the European Parliament in the final clip: did they have something to do with the film, too?

If this film were based solely on Bruno Ganz’s character and acting, I’d give it five stars, but as a whole I can give it only:

**.5

Bea says:

Is everyone in Chester, New Jersey hard of hearing? I was, after we left this film. Is there really any need to have the volume up THAT LOUD? Any loud scene (e.g. the car chase) required me to put my fingers in my ears – and after years of nightclubs and gigs in my teens and 20s, my hearing isn’t all that great anyway!

However, I did find this an enjoyably diverting film. The plot is interesting, and as I haven’t seen The Bourne Identity, it didn’t feel too recycled to me. I really liked the setting of a mid-winter Berlin – just as I remember it from the 90s; cold, snowy, edgy. I thought all the leads (Liam Neeson, January Jones) acted well, but agree with Cecil that Bruno Ganz outshone them all effortlessly, and appeared to be having a lot of fun as well.

This film may not be a “must-see”, but if you like thrillers, or if you’ve ever been to Berlin and enjoyed it, or if you’re a die-hard Ganz fan like Cecil, it is recommended.

**1/2