Knowing (Alex Proyas, 2009): USA

Reviewed by William Conlin. Viewed at the Movies 4 in Lompoc, CA.

They say that film reflects the times in which we live. If that is true, Alex Proyas’ Knowing certainly shows the dispair and ignorance that exists in this world. Knowing begins with all the accoutrements of a classic sci-fi thriller but quickly warps into a pseudo-religious fantasy that not only leaves a sour taste in your mouth but gives the viewer a urge to request a refund from the box office.

John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) is an accomplished MIT professor whose greatest struggle is to care for his young son after the recent death of his wife. When his son’s school opens a fifty-year-old time capsule, John acquires a paper covered in seemingly random numbers. After closer examination, Koestler discovers the numbers are actually a sequence of dates, predicting major world disasters from volcano eruptions to September 11th. Though Koestler is skeptical at first, he begins to realize the numbers are real, leading him on a chase to protect his son before the sequence runs out.

To say this film was a disappointment is a severe understatement. Though I walk into any Nicolas Cage film with a certain understanding of what lies ahead, I had high hopes for this film and was let down very quickly. Cage delivers every poorly written line with the exact same tone and expression. I actually found myself laughing at the absurdity of the dialogue on multiple occasions. Proyas serves as writer, producer and director and although he has made decent films in the past, this one is a tremendous failure. Online film sources are saying Proyas is now considering remaking either The Birds or Poltergeist. If that is true and Knowing is a judge of how he would approache either of these classics, I would beg the movie-going public to call on Proyas to abandon these projects.

The only bright spot in Knowing would have to be Simon Duggan’s cinematography. During the film’s first major action sequence a jetliner crashes into a highway outside of Boston causing massive amounts of destruction. The entire sequence is shown in one continuous shot, harkening back to one of my favorite filmmakers: Alfonso Cuaron. Though the process by which this shot was made intrigued me, the action sequences on a whole left me with the feeling that this film was made purely to show people being killed in violent ways, much like last year’s extremely disappointing The Happening.

On a larger scale, I must say this culture of destruction that has come forward in cinema scares me to no end. I understand the need to be thrilled but it seems like since 1996’s Independence Day, every film of this genre has struggled to destroy New York City better than the previous film. To add insult to injury, while all this destruction takes  place, the film takes a complete right turn and becomes a seemingly Scientologist-inspired religious diatribe. The viewer is assaulted with religious symbolism and, while I have no problem with the portrayal of religion on film, I find it hard to watch a movie that preaches to me like I’m in a cathedral, not a movie theater.

Knowing is the second film I’ve seen from the newly founded Summit Entertainment, the first being Twilight (read my review here). If these two films show the caliber for which Summit is striving, I will find myself skipping their theatrical releases for a very long time. In the opinion of this film reviewer, Knowing is completely unforgivable and definitely not worth a penny, let alone $7.50.