Seen on: March 22, 2009
The players: Director: Alex Proyas, Writers: Ryne Douglas Pearson, Stiles White, Juliet Snowden, Cast: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Ben Mendelsohn
Facts of interest: Proyas also helmed "I, Robot" and "Dark City."
The plot: Cage stars as a professor who thinks he's connected to a series of events leading to a global disaster that could be detrimental to the world.
Our thoughts: Science and religion collide again on the big screen in Alex Proyas’ latest sci-fi thriller “Knowing,” in which Nicholas Cage makes a shocking discovery and tries everything in his power to prevent the end of humanity. It’s definitely not a terrible flick, but I did come across several aspects I simply couldn’t appreciate.
First and foremost, I enjoyed the movie’s fast-paced plot. “Knowing” is not exactly what I would call a highly suspenseful thriller, but the film’s dark atmosphere and the entertaining development of the central mystery definitely kept me intrigued throughout.
What you should also know about “Knowing” is that it’s a pure science-fiction adventure, which means you’ll get to experience a highly far-fetched story filled with twists that are anything but down-to-earth. I’m obviously not going to spoil the ending here, but be prepared for anything.
As far as the main story line is concerned, Cage plays John Koestler, a professor of astrophysics who’s been having a hard time being a single father and coping with his wife’s recent death. But when his son brings home a mysterious piece of paper filled with numbers, everything in John’s chaotic life is about to change.
It’s not until he takes a closer look at the sheet that John makes a horrible discovery: all these numbers point to the exact dates of every major global disaster of the past five decades, and the remaining sets of numbers foretell three additional events, including one that could be detrimental to the entire world.
The central theme of “Knowing” is introduced early on, and this time, it mainly revolves around whether all things in the universe are deterministic or random. It’s a debate that has been around for a long time, and Proyas’ film takes a clear side. What you make of it is up to you to decide.
While some of what’s going on in this thriller is a little too predictable for my taste, other parts actually ended up surprising me, which is definitely a good thing. The script is certainly far from perfect, but I admire the way Proyas and his technical staff have put together an overall entertaining sci-fi flick.
“Knowing” boasts a couple of satisfying action sequences, and while some of them certainly look impressive, others fall victim to weak special effects. The other major problem I have with this film is Nicholas Cage. Okay, his hair looks better than in most of his projects, but his rather thin performance didn’t have a strong impact on me at all.
Freaky quote: “Stay with me. I know how this sounds, but I've mapped these numbers to the dates of every major global disaster from the last 50 years in perfect sequence." – Nicholas Cage
The final word: Fans of Proyas’ work (his credits include “I, Robot” and “Dark City”) may really enjoy “Knowing,” a decent film with a bunch of intense scenes and a clear message. I personally don’t exactly share the same opinion, but I still found it rather easy to enjoy “Knowing” without complaining all too much.
Article by Franck Tabouring