“Knowing” leaves much to be desired
By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com
Nicholas Cage in a scene from "Knowing."
The only thing you need to know about “Knowing” is that you do not need to spend $9 to see this waste of celluloid chaos.
This was a movie I really tried not to hate, because the basic premise was pretty good. But a good premise does not lead to a good film.
The one thing I can say good about this movie is at least Nicholas Cage’s hair cut this time around didn’t look like a Tribble that had been run over by a Mack truck and then quickly put trough the washer and dryer — a look he sported in the even more miserable “Bangkok Dangerous.”
On that note though, Cage man, you have GOT to stop wearing tight fitting shirts. There is one scene in the movie were Cage is running around and it is just not a flattering shot of him. As I watched the movie with my friend, Scott Ross, I blurted out, “Yo dude, you got some man boobies on you Nick Cage.” It was just not a pretty site. Like most of this movie.
The thing is I really did want to like this movie. It’s directed by Alex Proyas who directed two of my favorite films, “The Crow” and “Dark City.” And this movie had the germ of that weird creativity I’ve enjoyed in Proyas’ other work. The whole build up of everything being number based and being able to predict disasters based on the formula that was written by a precognitive individual was good. The weird people that are Whispering to the children in the movie was a nice touch.
If you don’t know the plot it goes like this: a little girl in the 1950s writes out a series of numbers that are put into a time capsule. The time capsule is later dug up at the school that is attended by the son of Nicholas Cage’s character. Cage proceeds to see a pattern in the numbers and then tries to prevent a disaster.
The only problem is how preposterous the set up is for him to realize the numbers mean anything. He’s drinking a cup of coffee and puts it down on the paper, creating a coffee ring around a group of numbers.
He realizes that that coffee ring has circled a set of numbers that add up to Sept. 11, 2001, and the number of people who died. That’s a HELL of a coincidence, like you stand a better chance of winning the lottery or seeing me get laid by a beautiful woman. About a trillion zillion to one in the strange odds department.
So, taking that bit of disbelief we go on even further. And the problem is with the whole knowledge that this was directed by the same guy who helmed, “Dark City,” I pretty much figured out the big “twist” halfway through the movie and grumbled toward the end. I won’t ruin for you, just in case you want to flush your $9 down the toilet at your local theater.
There are some cool sequences though. The plane crashing and the train wreck are both well done.The train wreck has a nice sliding effect, where you see things from the subway train’s perspective as its colliding into things. And those scenes hint at a different story that would have kept my attention better.
Those scenes hinted at the struggle of a man who wants to try and prevent chaos but may not always be able to and who will put himself at risk just for the chance to try and stop a disaster. The only problem is we go WAY more science ficiton than that.
Oh, and if you are a big disaster movie fan, expecting to see a lot of the destruction that makes you happy, ala “Volcano” or “The Day After Tomorrow,” this is not the movie for you. There are only about three disaster pieces. For the most part it’s a weird, offbeat, science fiction mystery.
The script has problem, especially in the logic department and the characters are dull. There wasn’t anybody to really latch onto and truly care about. In fact when one character is driving down the road and gets in a horrible car wreck one friend, Justin Souther, snapped “Good! I hope she’s dead. She’s annoying!”
The characters are pretty stupid also at times. For instance, even though they have been followed repeatedly by these weirdos dressed in black, Nicholas Cage’s character and the woman he’s with drive their truck into the woods.
They then get out to investigate a home for details, leaving their children in the car unattended. With a loaded gun in the glove compartment. But the two parents are shocked when the kids are approached by the “baddies” while Cage and the woman are in the home. Deeoooohk.
It’s just more ridiculous, ill thought action from characters you really don’t care about.
All in all this is a movie that tries to come off smarter than it really is. And it made me glad to know I didn’t have to shell out $9 to find that out the hard way.
