Knowing
A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
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- Cast:
- Nicolas Cage , Rose Byrne , Chandler Canterbury , Ben Mendelsohn , Nadia Townsend , Terry Camilleri , Lara Robinson
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Reviews
Simply Perfect
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Knowing is a strange film to review. On the one hand it contains some genuinely creepy scenes including a plane crash that is convincing and a scene in the woods that is eerie but the story about a professor who goes out to prevent catastrophes based on a list contained in an unearthed time capsule falls flat. This is probably the film when Nicholas Cage started going nuts and acting in every film that was probably thrown his way, though this cannot be faulted at the film. Alex Proyas could have done a better job but it is a decent effort containing some great isolated sequences.
When the disasters start happening, the movie turns out to be very explosive, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The only issue I had was the ending. A little bit more of an explanation as to why the aliens wanted certain people would have been great! Overall it was a very good movie!
Knowing, in short, is about professor John (Nicolas Cage), an intelligent chap who cleverly decodes a message that was unearthed in a time capsule buried 50-years ago at his young son's school.Still interested? Ok, read on. Inside of this time capsule are things like futuristic drawings and trinkets from 1959, left by school children of the day. In 2009, a new batch of children at the school open the capsule and, one by one, reach in and pull out a treasure. John's almost-as-clever son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), picks out a rather boring piece of paper filled only with numbers. It's almost befitting though. After all, the kid is very smart and has a future as an astrophysicist it seems. But he is a kid, man, and he notices that his classmates each got something cool, like hand drawn, colorful pictures imagining what life would be like in 2009 (think spaceships and jet packs). Like, where's the fun in a plain piece of paper full of stupid numbers?Enter Dad, M.I.T. scholar John, who's a big fan of numbers. He finds Caleb's discovery rather fascinating, and, in fact, has uncovered something that no one else cares enough to believe. These numbers, when one looks close enough, each mean something significant. When properly sequenced, they foretell horrible disasters, past, present, and future. Life altering disasters!Knowing, IMHO, isn't as great as some popular critics have called it. It's, meh, ok. I'm not a critic, I'm just a fan who opines. I like the idea behind Knowing, but I think Nick Cage sort of overacts a wee bit. He's been guilty of it a few times in other movies, too. Maybe that's what he's going for here with his character, but it doesn't really work for me. There's no need to scream at everyone (sure, I get it, people just don't believe him when he predicts disasters). Also, I found the script a little predictable, and believe me the irony is not lost on me.One thing that is really cool in this film is the disasters we get to see. I must admit, even now, watching this film again 9-years later I find some of the CGI impressive. Sure, I did say "wow" a few times, and not like a "this is lame" kind of wow, either. It's good to watch once, then put it away for a few years and watch again. That's what I did, and now it's filed away - probably for another 9 years or so.
*** This review may contain spoilers *** Please do not read if you have not watched the film.I gave this film 2 out of 10 as it has Nicholas Cage in it (one of my favourite actors!) Anyway, this film does not make any sense! The page contains literally hundreds of numbers, so obviously their is going to be references to them somewhere at sometime! Also, it doesn't make any sense. It seems to flick about all over the place with no apparent conception. A very difficult film to watch. Avoid it at all costs unless you are a huge Nick Cage fan!