MovieChat Forums > Unknown (2011) Discussion > Why did they have two Dr Martin Harrises...

Why did they have two Dr Martin Harrises?


They set up Liam and the other man (Aidan) to be Dr Martin Harris long before Liam went into his coma which they couldn't have known would happen. You saw film of them having their picture taken with January Jones.

Why have two Dr Harrises? Ich bin puzzled!

Having said which, I really liked this film, a bit of violent hokum and good car chase really takes your mind off things and Liam Neeson is always worth watching.

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I marked it as a spoiler but ... It wasn't a set up. He was part of assassination plot and he became compromised when he got the accident and was in a coma for 4 days. So they brought the other guy in as the back up plan. But because of the coma Liam's memory was sketchy so he thought he really was Dr. Harris. When it was just a cover he cretead. That's how the other Martin knew all the details because he was at the meeting when it was all planned and also why he had different and blank passports in his briefcase.

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Thanks, I think I just about understand that!

I guess with films like these it doesn't really do to question things too much, just sit back and relish the madness and inconsistencies and implausibilities! Bit like '24 Live Another Day' which I've got into.

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To make it easier for you, the agency that Neeson, Quinn & Jones work for, trained 2 agents in the role of Martin Harris, just in case something went wrong.

In this instance, something did go wrong, & Neeson had to be replaced, due to him having the accident, then a lack of real memory about what he was assigned to do.

I don't think they did a bad job of explaining this in the movie, so I personally don't see the inconsistencies that you speak of, or that you have to suspend your belief over.


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but where was the backup girl?
It made sense to have a backup guy, but not a girl?

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Maybe there was, but she wasn't needed, so we didn't see her.

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good point. if something happned to back up girl or guy they could have just replaced them both.

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Good thread. No explanation is very credible - it's just an extremely poor bit of convenient plotting.

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[deleted]

I thought this was one of the few things which made sense in the movie. Obviously the second Dr Martin (Aidan Quinn) was a back up, a Plan B if you will. You see this was a really important mission for the section 15 agents(I think that was what they were called). They couldn't afford to *beep* this up. So having a plan B was sensible.


Now someone else wondered why there was no backup for Elizabeth Harris. She was basically just eye candy, just a lackey for Dr Martin Harris. Let's just assume that she was the one who ended up in a coma. So what? Liam neeson or Aidan Quinn, either one of them in the guise of Dr Martin Harris could have still ended up in the same room as Bressler and assasinated him.

The only thing Elizabeth Harris does is to get all the data from Bressler's laptop. Dr Martin could have easily pulled this off without Elizabeth. So January Jones/ Elizabeth Harris is what they call expendable in this mission. So a backup for her seems a bit unnecessary.

I hope that makes sense.

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Why do you spoiler tag? Who reads forums without expecting to learn something from the movie?

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The movie was a big hit, the ending opens possibilities for a sequel.
When????

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This thread is not needed as it is pretty obvious and explained in the film.

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[deleted]

It is a spoiler. Please take out of title.

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