MovieChat Forums > Unknown (2011) Discussion > Does Liam's character at the end deserve...

Does Liam's character at the end deserves jail time?

posted 10 years ago by geearf
9 replies | jump to latest

I think there's a great question there.

As we have been seeing him, he is A NEW MAN compared to the first minutes of the movie.
He risked his life to save the prince and the crops yadi yadi yada...
In that sense he's a pretty good man, but before the "change" he was a killer who deserved jail time.

So... in this regard, should he bear the actions committed by his previous self?
His previous self was most likely his truer one, but does that matter as long as he stays as he is at the end of the movie?

[–] SpiltPersonality 9 years ago

Well, if any of this was real, he would definitely get off on a mental health issue, but of course it is way too convoluted to be real.

SpiltPersonality

[–] brian605 9 years ago

Not a great question. In real life he would be arrested and endure the consequences of his actions. The best he could hope for is for his actions to save people being a factor in reducing his sentence.

If someone who hadn't killed anybody saved some people from being killed, should they be unpunished if they choose to kill some people later? It's just the sequence that is different. Either way people are dead and some good was done.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] geearf 9 years ago

Well I wasn't asking about in real life, but more like an ethical question. (ok ethical is not the best word, moral? not sure).
And not because of the lives saved, but the fact that he kind of is someone else... and that someone is only innocent... unless he gets back to his original persona.

[–] jmichael3387 9 years ago

We have no choice but to put murderers in jail, even if they get a bump on the head and change. I'm sure there are many murderers who change while in jail, they become Christians or whatever, they realize they did wrong and won't do it again....but we have no choice but to keep them in jail.

But in this case, in this movie....we can still root for Neeson's character, because we know he seriously changed for real.

[–] doubl3 8 years ago

yes

[–] johnral (138) 5 years ago

This is a good question. When Liam tells them that he planted a bomb, he does so almost as if he won't get in trouble for it; but I was thinking that he's basically writing his death sentence. I don't see how this could be a legal defense. He was not insane when he planted the bomb, and he's not insane at the end of the movie. As for the moral issue, it's similar to these people on death row for 20 years who really become different people; the 40 year old is simply not the same person he was at 20 when he committed a dumb murder. But we generally don't view that as a legitimate reason to not follow through with the sentence (either death penalty, or life imprisonment).

[–] Luis (187) 4 years ago

yes. it seems he has killed before. if anything, maybe time off for recent action, but he should not be completely off the hook.

sorry for al lower case, i have a hand in a cast.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 4 years ago

Yes, he confessed to setting the bomb in the hotel. His confession saved a lot of lives, but that's still a rather major crime.