REVIEW: Knowing (2009)

Knowing

Rated: R

Runtime: 130 minutes

Starring: Nicolas Cage.

My rating: 3-4 stars

Your Rating (Click stars to rate):

Follow me on Netflix and see what I'm watching, rating and exclusive lists of personal favorites. Just click "Save to Faves."

—

I am not posting a preview because it is the worst preview to tell you what a film is about I've ever seen. I went in expecting something like National Treasure. It is nothing like that.

—

If Knowing does nothing else, it will make you think.

It skims the surface of many folklores, religion, Scientology and the ultimate questions: Why are we here and are we alone?

Do not go into this film because you liked the preview. This is a science-fiction apocalyptic thriller that really exists to provoke thought. There are as many explanations about what the ending means as there will be reactions to it.

It is difficult to tell you if you will like this movie or to pick a generic group that will like it. For me, it was a good movie that was a touch long. I don't normally enjoy Nicolas Cage, who plays John. Cage generally overacts, and I gave up on him after the National Treasure franchise.

But this film is a plus for him. He is twitchy enough to pull off the paranoid scientist obsessed with decoding the series of numbers left in a time capsule 50 years ago. We get to see the girl write out the numbers in 1959 after hearing whispers. She puts it in the capsule.

John cracks the series and discovers the numbers correspond to human catastrophes throughout history. He is able to figure out the final two future dates and locations on the paper before the numbers stop. He now wants to break the chain and save the world.

We meet John as he's giving a lecture at MIT. He's talking about the difference between randomness and determinism. Basically, is there a point to life and our existence or are we only here by a series of chemical reactions that spawned life?

The whole movie is him discovering the answer to that debate, while simultaneously trying to save as many lives as he can.

This film is vivid, and the incidents are disturbingly real. At times, it was hard to watch. I think, ultimately, Knowing tries to be much more important than it is. It tries harder to send a message about a greater truth and what is out there than it does being a great movie.

A number of people came out of the theater discussing the ending and whether they liked it, hated it or if it made sense within the plot.

It does make sense to the movie, and I was able to predict it within the first five minutes. I think that's only because of the mass of films I've seen. Casual movie-goers won't as easily guess the ending.

A film like this will be loved by one person, but his best friend will hate it. That happens because of the ending. People will either accept it and believe it in the context of the film, or it will irritate them. A sci-fi mystery thriller only works if the ending is believable. While I know (or think) our destiny will not turn out like this movie, it is fitting for the movie.

Knowing will have you asking a lot of questions and will provoke mass debate among those in the theaters. It's not a psychological thriller like 23 and it isn't quite like Armageddon. It's a mix of the two with a twist.

I enjoyed it a lot, but most people probably won't. In the obligatory star-rating system, I give it three stars for the masses and four stars in my personal book.

—————

Where it's playing?

Canton/Potsdam: Click here for current listings.

Watertown: Click here for current listings.

—————

Have I reviewed the movie you want to see?

Click here and type the title in the search box on the right side of the screen.

Want to see a movie reviewed? Click here to suggest one.

Comments? E-mail me.