Freeview (UK) film of the day : wednesday 26th of June

Unknown (2011 108min.) [C4 9.00pm &+1]

Thriller starring Liam Neeson. While in Berlin for a biotechnology conference, scientist Dr Martin Harris is involved in a car accident that leaves him in a coma. He wakes up four days later with gaps in his memory and no identification, but then when he returns to his hotel, his wife Elizabeth doesn't recognise him.

It's something of a throwback to the sixties and seventies mystery thriller where Something Odd happens in a mysterious European city with echoes of the Harrison Ford starring Frantic (1988) and Roger Moore's The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970).
There's also more than a hint of Hitchcock about it - especially Torn Curtain (1966) - the casting of Mad Men's January Jones as Neeson's wife is an obvious call-back to Hitch's ice-cool blonde leading women.

It's quite daft and the plot is absurdly intricate but while you're watching it you get swept along in the action and director Jaume Collet-Serra's skill at keeping all the plates spinning marks this out as an above average genre piece.

The constantly under rated Diane Kruger adds weight to the supporting cast that also includes good work from Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella.