Knowing
2 Lloyds - Not Family-Friendly
PG-13 disaster sequences, disturbing images
and brief strong language.
Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
A 50 year old message, holds a possible key to the future.
Originally posted on Frame by Frame: A Family-Friendly Guide to the Movies Blog
Follow me on Twitter!
New on DVD on Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Nicholas Cage stars in the action-sci-fi-thriller Knowing. It’s a movie about a professor who stumbles on a series of numbers, which are actually predictions about the future. After making the discovery, he sets out to prevent them from coming true. His increasingly desperate efforts take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster, and the ultimate sacrifice.
It all begins in 1958 as part of a dedication ceremony for a new elementary school. A group of students is asked to draw pictures which will be stored in a time capsule. But, one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers.
50 years later a new generation of students open the capsule.
If It Weren’t For Nicolas Cage…
This movie would have been a total loss if Nicolas Cage were not in it. Now, I must admit I do like Nicolas Cage. I know he tends to be one dimensional, but he is a Hollywood working actor. In other words, he actually works in Hollywood! He doesn’t just hold out for the multi-million dollar contracts looking for sure fire hits. Instead, he likes to work, and work he does. But, not all of his movies are big hits. I also don’t simply like his movies just because he’s in them. For example, The Weatherman from 2005, which also starred Michael Caine, was an absolute disaster! That movie had great potential. But in the end, both Cage and Caine looked like they were on auto-pilot.
Such is not the case with Knowing. Cage does not look like he’s on auto-pilot. However, even though he works hard, this movie simply does not have good follow through. Nicolas Cage seems to thrive on a script that involves solving some kind of a puzzle which in turn unlocks clues. His performances in the National Treasure flicks reveal this talent well.
In a nutshell, Knowing tells the story of the end of the world.
When a time capsule is opened, a girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of Caleb Koestler. His father, professor John Koestler, played by Nicolas Cage, discovers the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. As he digs deeper into the series of numbers and the odd ending of the message, the professor also discovers the document foretells three additional events. The last event hints at destruction on a global scale. Then, just when he thinks he has it all figured out, John discovers his son is somehow involved too.
It took me a while to figure out what was really going on with this movie. Knowing has all the right elements for an action-sci-fi-thriller. I was on the edge of my seat at times. At other times I was telling the characters in the movie to “Don’t go in there!” From time to time, I must admit, I watched with one eye slightly closed. This is truly a spooky type movie. Occasionally it gave me shivers up and down my spine too. Most importantly, Knowing also gave me time to breath in between the spooky parts.
Why Just 2 Lloyds?
After reading the above, you may wonder why I’m only giving Knowing 2 out of our possible 5 Lloyd rating system. Over-all, the low rating is the result of three main flaws with the movie.
- It’s poorly filmed.
- With the exception of Nicolas Cage, the acting is sub-par.
- The movie falls short on script follow-through.
The quality of Knowing and the acting falls short. This looks more like a B-movie than anything else when it comes to film quality. At times the grain is so noticeable I wanted the take the whole movie back into the darkroom so I could redevelop it. The acting, well, there’s not a whole lot more to say on that. Last, but certainly not least, the script, while intriguing, falls short on follow through. The plot-line strings together a series of Biblical concepts about the end of the world, and possible aliens. There are many loose ends, and at times, it’s simply confusing. For those who know the Bible, you will be left saying - “That’s not what it says.”
In the end, when the credits for Knowing finally roll after close to 2 hours, I found myself saying - “Is that it?”
This movie is also far from family-friendly. It carries a PG-13 rating, but Knowing is best suited for the 16 and up crowd. While there are some good family lessons about forgiveness and working things out, it’s far too graphic and gripping for the under 16 crowd. Knowing has done reasonably well at the box office, and it was number one for it’s debut weekend. But, it’s probably best viewed on DVD
Cautiously enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus
