– By Cate Marquis –
Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon explore the risks and rewards of shifting identities in COMPLETE UNKNOWN
A woman (Rachel Weisz) who keeps re-inventing herself – as an ER nurse, a free-spirit in Seattle, a magician’s assistant in China – turns up at a birthday party with Clyde (Michael Chernus) man she befriended in a workplace cafeteria in New York City. She’s introduced as Alice but Tom (Michael Shannon), the man whose birthday they are celebrating, recognizes her as Jenny, a woman who had been his lover 15 years earlier. Alice gives no indication she knows Tom but charms everyone at the party. Puzzled, Tom follows her out into the New York street, and discovers the thrill in taking out a different identity.
The characters played by Shannon and Weisz are at the center of COMPLETE UNKNOWN. This chameleon-like woman trades identity and professions at will, picking up just enough knowledge to convince and relying on her personal charm and beauty to win people over. The film makes clear that her meeting Tom is no accident – she knew he would be there.
The premise of this film is reminiscent of the real-life character at the center of the film CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, but it also reflects what actors do in their profession, which makes this tale catnip for actors. This identity-shifting woman’s goal is not crime but simply the experience, meaning what she is doing is akin to what actors do, taking on a personality and trying to convince those watching that it is the real you. It gives the story an enormous appeal to actors themselves, a change to explore why people want to become someone else, and someone else, and someone else.
Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) directs the film from a script he co-wrote with Julian Sheppard. Marston could not ask for a better pair of actors than Weisz and Shannon for this exploration of identity and the thrill of being someone else. This talented pair bring dramatic sparks to this intriguing exploration of who one is, and it is great fun to watch them at work. At first, Jenny appears to be completely in control while Tom is confused, and a bit angry and hurt. But as events unfold, things shift, just like Jenny’s ever-changing identities.
Marston opens his film showing a montage of Weisz in a series of personas, then inter-cut with scenes of her creating fake documents to adopt her next persona. This means the audience already knows Alice is not the uncomplicated person as she pretends to be. When Alice “accidentally” meets Clyde at his workplace cafeteria, a man we earlier saw her select from the company’s website, we know she has a plan in mind. She tells him she is a biologist studying frogs on Long Island, a continuation of the work she had done the last few years in Tasmania. He is immediately fascinated by this sweet, slightly quirky woman. When the birthday party for his co-worker and best friend Tom comes along, Clyde naturally invites Alice to accompany him.
The opening montage sequence is useful but feels a bit awkward. The film takes on a more natural tone and improves greatly once the plot really gets under way. Still the film sometimes feels like a stage play, although the strong performances by Shannon and Weisz help diffuse that sense.
Although we know Alice has a history, when she shows up at the party, we do not expect someone to recognize her and wonder if she knew. Tom himself seems unsure this woman is the same person her knew years ago. But Alice quickly wins over everyone else at the party, including Tom’s Iranian-born wife Rehema (Azita Ghanizada). Tom is puzzled and a little angry, and tries to get Alice/Jenny alone so he can ask her why she disappeared 15 years earlier and why she is there now,. Yet every time he get the chance to talk to her, something or someone interrupts. The answers to those questions become an on-going quest throughout the film, as Jenny leads Tom on an exploration in impersonation in the nighttime city.
Weisz’s Alice is irresistibly appealing but Shannon’s Tom is a tougher character. In scenes before the party, Tom reveals a hardness, a man whose life has not changed for years, unlike the ever-changing Alice. He is a man who does not leave the work behind when he leaves the office. His commitment to his job is admirable but also shows a stubbornness and intensity that is sometime hard for those around him to take. At home before the party, he argues with his wife about their future, and frets about the cake with his name misspelled. He seems unable to either relax or to compromise. By contrast, as the evening unfolds, Jenny reveals a vulnerability about her, even though she is essentially a con artist. Although Alice quickly charms all Tom’s friends at the party, the more time they spend with her, the more cracks in her facade appear, as they catch her in inconsistencies. Weisz plays this character so well, the charmer who wows everyone but then trips herself when she relaxes a bit too much and accidentally reveals details from her past.
This tale of picking up and dropping identities, the meaning of identity and whether becoming someone else is easy, difficult or maybe addictive, makes for a delicious feast for these fine actors. Weisz and Shannon are terrific together, with a crackling electricity to their increasingly intense scenes, leading to the film’s logical if slightly sad conclusion.
The film also features a fine supporting cast, including Kathy Bates and Danny Glover playing a couple that Tom and Jenny encounter on their adventure. It is nice to see both Bates and Glover, as characters that both enable Jenny’s deceit but add their own little bits about lies and truth with a touch of humor.
COMPLETE UNKNOWN is an engrossing little film enhanced by some excellent acting, in a tale that explores ideas around perceptions of who people are.
© Cate Marquis
