Movie Review - 'Knowing'

Knowing Starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, and Chandler Canterbury Directed by Alex Proyas Rated PG-13

During a lecture, MIT astrophysics professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) asks his students to define and differentiate randomness and determinism. Determinism, answers one student, is the belief that a chain of events leads to a specific conclusion, that there is an order to things. Randomness is exactly what it sounds like. Though those scientific principles have something to do with with story in Knowing, they can also be found in the very structure of the screenplay: Obviously, there is an intended direction, but some aspects are so chaotic, you wonder how in the hell it ever got to where it was going. I love the idea of time capsules. To see what the past thought of the future is a great exercise. And it's used very effectively here, a device that sets the world of Knowing in motion. Koestler's son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), attends a grade school where 50 years earlier, a time capsule was buried to mark the opening of the school. When it is unearthed, Caleb is handed an envelope placed in the capsule by a student half a century earlier. Was he randomly chosen to select the envelope, or was it somehow determined? What's inside the envelope is a cryptic string of numbers, which Caleb's father decides develop into a pattern that predicts the great worldwide tragedies of the previous five decades, like the downed flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, the 9/11 attacks, earthquakes, and more. According to the code, the grade school student who wrote the note knew not only when and where these events would occur but also how many people would die. And, most chillingly, when John discovers its meaning, there are only three disasters left to unfold. Forgive me for saying so, but if you take that premise and garnish it with some stupendous effects scenes, that's an effective way to make a science fiction movie. Director Alex Proyas certainly delivers the effects, which are double underlined in red ink by a magnificently bombastic musical score by Marco Beltrami. But somewhere along the way, Knowing unmasks itself as being about more than that. Why? It's science fiction. You can do anything with it. That's why it's fiction. The concept is going along fine until Proyas weaves in the chaotic elements, the ones that seem so external to the story and unpredictable. I mean, shouldn't a movie that knows the difference between randomness and determinism know the difference between randomness and determinism? I had more problems with Knowing the longer it lasted. The only major flaw, outside of young Chandler Canterbury, would be the added layers the script doesn't need. If you want an big effects show and a really solid 80 minutes of entertainment, Knowing has all of that, plus an extra 40 minutes of stuff you probably you won't like so much.
Watch the Knowing trailer

Comments

[BobbyJ]

My son and I will watch this on weekend, we'll cancel first our time for grinding warcraft gold on WoW and make way for this film. I heard that this is great.

[Julian Francis]

Good review! I saw this movie over the weekend and I'm completely speechless from it, and not in a good way. There were so many unanswered questions and unclear themes I was just speechless with question and not only depression. It's redeeming qualities certainly included the action (although that seemed in bad taste at times) and fun in the game in the first half of the film.

[Adz_1979]

saw this movie last night and couldn't get to sleep after viewing it. honestly one of the worst films i have ever seen! terrible ending, special effects where just pathetic and i felt like i was seeing a movie from the early 90's. and the theory on outerspace beings begining and ending our world like some kind of game? stupid!@ please somebody tell me what role the bleeched haired speechless goons played. i really hope they never received payments for their castings.

please don't waste your time watching this film - you will never get back your 2hrs 1min.

[must see movies]

this why always love nic cage .... best actor with a good movie!

[IIla Pearl]

Fantastic movie and it does take some intellectual understanding to absorb everything. It brings up intriguing questions that each can form their own opinion. Your saying that the major flaw outside of the young Chandler Canterbury is really stupid. The director tells the actor how he wants him to act and what emotions to show. For pete's sake, he just lost his mother. You were definitely wrong on this. IP

[Raffkin]

I thought it was a good movie, though the writer (and or director) had an uneven understanding of the objective. The movie would make more sense to those with some biblical background. An understanding of what is talked about in Ezekiel would do much to explain who the aliens are supposed to be and why the craft looks as it does. This was the framework by which the whole concept of "seeding" the universe was built upon. (Panspermia)
I would have liked to have seen it fleshed out a bit more. If the aliens are so intelligent, why put people on a planet that they knew was going to be deepfried? Additionally, why pick pre-pubescent children to start the new human race? It's going to be a while before they could start having kids of their own and even then, they wouldn't have the slightest idea in hell how to take care of them.

[Princess of the KING]

I had a dream/vision in 1999....

I was going to sleep, but the room was stuffy so before I went to sleep I opened the window. So I got in bed. When I did, a strong wind from the window, hit my dresser and the Bible that was there flug open, and the pages were tubling back and forth. I enjoyed the air, but I went back to sleep. In doing so, I heard a voice call my name. I woke up confused, and disreaged it, then went back to sleep. But the voiced kept saying my name, over and over again. The more the name was said, the louder the voices became. It got closer and closer, each time sounding more beautiful than the last time. I realized it was an angel. After her my name, I heard these loud blasts of trumpet. It actually happened several times. It was like announcing someone's arrival. So immediatley i woke up. When I did, I looked around and everything seemed NORMAL and then I ent back to sleep. As soon as I did, I heard the beautiful voice call my name, this time the voice was so close I could feel the angelic breath at my ear. She told me to get out of bed and follow the others because the lord is coming back for his people. I at first was in disbelief but the trumpets were getting louder and louder. I went to the window and I saw people outside still in their pajamas talking amongst them selves about how they got a message from an angel but no one else in the house hold heard what they heard. So I ran on the first floor to wake up my mother and brother. My brother called me crazy and I had to drag my mother out of bed, to come and look through the window. When I got to the window, the people were gone. She demanded that I stopped eating dinner so late at night, and go back to bed. I did. Of coarse, I was unable to sleep because the trumpets got louder and the voices were becoming impatient. So I got out of my bed again, and saw the same people in the streets as I did before. This time they were pointing to the sky. Something SUPERNATURAL was happening. The angel told me to LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND and to follow the TRUTH. As I ran downstairs I passed both my mother and brothers room. I tried to get them to come with me, I was eager! But they still couldn't see what I saw. It was useless, so I just ran. When I got outside, we all stood together, The LORD was coming from out of the clouds. The figure was on a escalator type mechanism, but it wasnt HARD like real mechanics. It was faint like a spiritual mechanism. HE was glowing. There was no face, it was an image of a man with the face of a sun. his bod was glowing, drapped in a thin cloth. He pulled his arm out and pointed it to the BOSTON HARBOR (I live in BOSTON). There was this gigantic mystical ship that was coming towards the lord. The SHIT was bigger than a mountain, there was a mist that followed it. The LORD said, LEAVE everyone and everything behind, and to get on the ship. He said that this was the end but he will save us. But we dont have much time. Many people started to run towards this boat...THERE WAS NO DOUBT that this was the LORD, there was no mistaken THE LORD. You just knew it, more than you knew what TRUTH was. Some people, couldnt deal with parting from the rest of their friends and family members, so they went back and their homes. I also went back, I desperatly wanted my family to be with me so I again attempted to wake them up. Again, I was dissapointed. They were angered and calld me crazy. So I gathered my shoes and ran as fast to the boat as possible. I ran down the hill and saw the boat as it was about to take off. I ran quicker and quicker. Faster and faster. The ship was taking off from the port and tears started to come down my eyes. I was upset, I was going to choose death over life, ignorance over truth, and hate over love. I started to weep as I was crying, asking the lord to forgive me. As I got closer to the ship, people on the ship were encouraging the rest of us dumbies to keep runnning...and I did. I almost missed the boat, but when I got close eniugh to it, a man, with a strong arm helped me get on the boat. I made it! When I was on the ship, we couldn't see what was happeneing to the earth. The mist and fog was very thick. I walked across the deck floor and realized that I didnt know anyone on the boat. I was at least looking for my Grandmother, who taught me what I knew about spirituality. I was lonely. But as I passed around a corner, I saw a very familiar face. A girl I've known since I was 5 years old. She was an athiest, the last time we spoke. I asked myself, my grandmother, a women of faith was left behind. But my old school mate was going to be with the LORD. I asked her how she got here on the ship. She told me that It was a long story, just like everyone elses. Eventually the ship levitated into the air. The Dream to follow, was not as nice.

[TMW]

Princess of the KING....what was the other dream about?