Within the first few minutes, the British movie "Amnesia" becomes an addictive treat. The two-part movie, which airs on BBC America, involves common themes -- police detectives, murders and forgotten memories. But the story is handled with such intricate detail and cunning that it continually keeps viewers on edge. The ending may be a safe choice, but it is also a relief and not disappointing.
John Hanna, who is perhaps best known to American audiences as the befuddled brother in "The Mummy" with Brendan Fraser, provides the most intense and tortured performance on television this season. He is the one who keeps the many plot twists believable and interesting.
Hanna portrays Mackenzie Stone, a detective who faces a personal trauma following his wife's disappearance. He is desperate to find her and insists that she called him from Paris. But no one has heard from her in two months. While distributing missing-person fliers about his wife, Stone receives hundreds of fliers about other missing people. In the midst of that pile, Stone finds two fliers that intrigue him.
One is about a man, Paul West, who disappeared following his family's death in a fire. The other is about a man, John Dean (Anthony Calf), who suffers from amnesia and can't remember a single thing about his past.
Dean appeared a few months after West's disappearance. After comparing the photos on the fliers, Stone is convinced that West and Dean are the same man. Stone also doubts that the fire that killed West's wife and child was an accident.
To help Stone forget his wife's disappearance, his boss, Sean Brennan (Patrick Malahide), allows Stone to delve into the Dean case.
Dean is now married and quite happy helping his wife start a new business refurbishing yachts. He often wonders about his past, but is afraid to discover who he might have been.
"I'm very happy," says Dean. "We're very happy as we are now."
Stone becomes obsessed with proving that Dean murdered his former family. As that obsession grows, he struggles with nightmares about his wife. The nightmares hint that Stone may have killed his wife.
Stone's partner, Ian Reid (Brendan Coyle), becomes troubled when Stone confides the details of the nightmares and a few memories that are resurfacing from that fateful night when he was drunk. Reid convinces Brennan that they should investigate Stone for murder.
"This amnesia thing, it's a way of the brain dealing with bad things we've done," says Stone.
As more details unfold, it is no longer clear which man, Dean or Stone, truly suffers from amnesia. Nor is it clear which man is guilty of murder. The script cleverly keeps the plot twisting until the very end.
"Amnesia" is a taut thriller that deserves a bigger audience than what will be found on BBC America. Additional Information:
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'Amnesia'8 Tonight, BBC America
