Persons Unknown

An above average script that only occasionally gets off track, and some truly intriguing actors, including Joe Mantegna, Jon Favreau, J.T. Walsh, Naomi Watts, and Kelly Lynch. The soundtrack is eerie and great. There is some welcome humor, and a budding romance. Rewatchablity seems likely and all this adds up to strong entertainment value. The only weak points are the villains, with the exception of J.T.Walsh, who come across as nothing more than cartoon-like characters. Strong character development and plot takes the place of the usual car chases and explosions. "Persons Unknown" is worth seeking out, especially if you are a fan of twisty plotted films like "Red Rock West" or "Clay Pigeons" - MERK

Although "Persons Unknown" is no classic, I must admit I just loved it. It's been a while since I was really emotionaly involved with a movie (not since my viewing 10 months ago of Alfred cheung's "On The Run"). The bad guys are a little to caricatural to my taste but the drama surounding the Joe Montagna character really moved me (what can I say, I am a sucker for "characters with a past"). The score, acting and photography are also flawless.

This is about a heist gone bad, and Joe Mantagna does his usual adequate job, perhaps not quite as animated as he is in "Jerry and Tom". It may not move along fast enough for some viewers, and the downbeat score keeps it low key. A lot of time is spent on his relationhips with the 2 sisters involved in the heist. But the plot gets interesting, and it's worth a few rental bucks. It's better than Portraits of a Killer, but not quite as good as Route 9 or Phoenix.

I saw this movie back in '99 before I knew who Naomi Watts was, but after seeing it, I made sure to take note of her name in the credits.

One thing that I found interesting in this film was their un-cliched use of smoking. In most films, a person only smokes if there is some dramatic reason to due so (eg. To look seductive/sexy, or to show they are bad or "naughty"), but in this film the two sisters just... smoked, plain and simple, and they did so in a manner that made them come across as believable, everyday people. I think there was even a line in there somewhere where Joe's character asks about Naomi's smoking and she replies that her and her sister started when they were kids. A very real scenario, again adding to the characters' believability.

I don't smoke myself so I'm not an advocate of the habit, but everything that can be said about this film already has been said in prior comments and so this was simply something different that came to my attention.

B-flick. A bunch of people after a bunch of money. Sound familiar? "Persons Unknown" tells of an ex-cop with an unreconciled past who falls in with a couple of babes resulting in a tiny bit of sex, a little bit of action, and a big fat bit of drama. Though the film smacks of the usual Hollywood contrivances, such as killing off all the unnecessary characters as an easy fix for dangling loose ends, it does manage to develop interesting relationships between the principals. Is this a good movie? Probably not. It is worth watching? If you're into crime dramas and happen upon it on cable, probably so. If nothing else you'll get Matenga, Lynch, Watts, some early Hickenlooper, and the option of surfing on. (C+)