Knowing
Rated: PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:Mar 20, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $67,769,550
Review :
Let’s all admit it, taking shots at Nicolas Cage’s latest acting gigs has been about as much fun as catching fish in a barrel — it’s fun for a moment, but it’s too damn easy and one quickly gets bored with it.
But hey, he deserved it — Bangkok Dangerous and Ghost Rider, to name a few, were some piss poor movies (I suspect they were done solely for the paycheck).So when it is announced he would be starring in some sort of movie that had him doomed to see the future and not have anyone believe him (i.e., the Cassandra Complex), I immediately got my pencil ready for a scathing review.
And then I watched Knowing. The movie review I had expected to write was no longer applicable — I found I actually liked the film.
At the center of the movie is a paper on which seemingly random numbers were scribbled upon by a troubled little girl named Lucinda (Lara Robinson) in 1959. 50 years later, this same sheet of paper resurfaces and finds its way into the hands of Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) and his mathematician father John Koestler (Cage). After downing a bottle of scotch in an effort to drown his sorrows over the loss of his wife, John notices a pattern — the numbers exactly align with cataclysmic events. And so begins his attempt to warn and convince others of impending doom when he notices several of the dates have yet to transpire.
Sure, we’ve all seen or heard it before, but there were several things that set Knowing apart from the host of other similarly themed movies.
First, it was generally heartfelt. The film showcased strong familial relationships that are easily identifiable and well acted out. Father-son relationship between John and Caleb is rock solid, as they pretty much only have one another as a support mechanism. Most touching is the great lengths and sacrifices John goes through to ensure his son is safe. Then there is the broken father-son relationship between John and his father, Reverend Koestler (Alan Hopgood). Only in the face of their own mortality do they reconcile their differences in a touching scene. It makes one think that the time to bury the hatchet with loved ones should happen well before there is no time to do it in.
The biggest bang of Knowing, however, comes rather unexpectedly — the scenes of destruction are magnificently crafted and shot. I don’t think I’ve ever witnesses a plane crash on film quite so disturbingly or vividly real before. You think everyone dies on impact? Think again. Same goes for an incredibly sequenced roll of a subway train going off the tracks. “Wow”, is a word that sums it up rather nicely.
But, c’mon, we can’t forget it’s a Nicolas Cage film; there has got to be a downside hidden somewhere within. There is. I could have done without the ending. It’s cheesier than a bowl of macaroni & cheese and thoroughly out of place. There’s also more than a handful of moments where Mr. Cage hams it up for the camera; thankfully, they’re easy to look beyond.
So while I can’t look into the future, I’m 97.63% certain Knowing is not a turning point in Nic’s movie choices. Therefore, I strongly suggest seeing it before the upcoming movie Kick-Ass retarnishes his good name and we go back to taking shots at him again.
Synopsis:
Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming... Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming true.
In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead.
Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule’s contents and the girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of young CALEB KOESTLER. But it is Caleb’s father, professor JOHN KOESTLER (Nicolas Cage), who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. As John further unravels the document’s chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve John and his son. When John’s attempts to alert the authorities fall on deaf ears, he takes it upon himself to try to prevent more destruction from taking place.
With the reluctant help of DIANA WAYLAND (Rose Byrne) and ABBY WAYLAND, the daughter and granddaughter of the now-deceased author of the prophecies, John’s increasingly desperate efforts take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster—and the ultimate sacrifice. --© Summit Entertainment
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Terry Camilleri
Director: Alex Proyas
Studio: Summit Entertainment
And then I watched Knowing. The movie review I had expected to write was no longer applicable — I found I actually liked the film.
At the center of the movie is a paper on which seemingly random numbers were scribbled upon by a troubled little girl named Lucinda (Lara Robinson) in 1959. 50 years later, this same sheet of paper resurfaces and finds its way into the hands of Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) and his mathematician father John Koestler (Cage). After downing a bottle of scotch in an effort to drown his sorrows over the loss of his wife, John notices a pattern — the numbers exactly align with cataclysmic events. And so begins his attempt to warn and convince others of impending doom when he notices several of the dates have yet to transpire.
Sure, we’ve all seen or heard it before, but there were several things that set Knowing apart from the host of other similarly themed movies.
First, it was generally heartfelt. The film showcased strong familial relationships that are easily identifiable and well acted out. Father-son relationship between John and Caleb is rock solid, as they pretty much only have one another as a support mechanism. Most touching is the great lengths and sacrifices John goes through to ensure his son is safe. Then there is the broken father-son relationship between John and his father, Reverend Koestler (Alan Hopgood). Only in the face of their own mortality do they reconcile their differences in a touching scene. It makes one think that the time to bury the hatchet with loved ones should happen well before there is no time to do it in.
The biggest bang of Knowing, however, comes rather unexpectedly — the scenes of destruction are magnificently crafted and shot. I don’t think I’ve ever witnesses a plane crash on film quite so disturbingly or vividly real before. You think everyone dies on impact? Think again. Same goes for an incredibly sequenced roll of a subway train going off the tracks. “Wow”, is a word that sums it up rather nicely.
But, c’mon, we can’t forget it’s a Nicolas Cage film; there has got to be a downside hidden somewhere within. There is. I could have done without the ending. It’s cheesier than a bowl of macaroni & cheese and thoroughly out of place. There’s also more than a handful of moments where Mr. Cage hams it up for the camera; thankfully, they’re easy to look beyond.
So while I can’t look into the future, I’m 97.63% certain Knowing is not a turning point in Nic’s movie choices. Therefore, I strongly suggest seeing it before the upcoming movie Kick-Ass retarnishes his good name and we go back to taking shots at him again.
Synopsis:
Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming... Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming true.
In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead.
Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule’s contents and the girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of young CALEB KOESTLER. But it is Caleb’s father, professor JOHN KOESTLER (Nicolas Cage), who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. As John further unravels the document’s chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve John and his son. When John’s attempts to alert the authorities fall on deaf ears, he takes it upon himself to try to prevent more destruction from taking place.
With the reluctant help of DIANA WAYLAND (Rose Byrne) and ABBY WAYLAND, the daughter and granddaughter of the now-deceased author of the prophecies, John’s increasingly desperate efforts take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster—and the ultimate sacrifice. --© Summit Entertainment
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Terry Camilleri
Director: Alex Proyas
Studio: Summit Entertainment
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