Directed by:
Alex ProyasCinematography:
Simon DugganComposer:
Marco BeltramiCast:
Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Adrienne Pickering, Ben Mendelsohn, Lara Robinson, Sally Anne Arnott, D.G. Maloney, Clem Maloney (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
A college professor (Nicolas Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son s elementary school. In it are some chilling accurate predictions of disasters... when, where, and how many will die. Most of these events must uncover the details of the next disasters in hopes of preventing them. If he fails, who knows how many will die? (Summit Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
Thrilling atmosphere and visual effects. Proyas is one of the few directors who knows how to utilize the technical aspects of a film to the fullest, which means not only as a showcase of current technologies, but as a fully-fledged plot attribute. The solid beginning is unfortunately marred the quite clumsy ending – a blend of kitsch and pathos – and at times I even felt that the director didn't know where to go. In the last minutes, it was quite a mess. Knowing could have turned out much better. Cage is bearable after a long time, even in a non-action role.
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Most of the time I thought that critics had hurt Knowing, because it is a thrilling and suggestive disaster film that surpasses its even more expensive colleagues thanks to Proyas' directing and great visuals. However, the biblical finale turns the tolerable ridiculousness into something very close to farce. One tends to forgive disaster films their plot holes and the strange (un)motivation of the characters, but the moment the creators hit you with heavy metaphysical calibers, you can now veto the tolerance. Knowing clearly suffers from ambitions that were too high. If it had stayed more grounded, it would be amongst the top films of the genre. Nicolas Cage saying a sentence like "how do I save the world?" would be a problem even in a much better-thought-out film. [65%]
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Not counting Star Trek, Knowing is the best sci-fi film in a very long time (The Day The Earth Stood Still and I Am Legend are not even close). Proyas is a master of atmosphere and his splendid direction and eye-candy visuals made me fully immerse in the film and enjoy it in a way I hadn’t expected. I didn’t even care that I had a vague idea of the twist due to some spoiling moron. Actually, it’s not even that hard to guess quite early on, but it doesn’t matter much because the most important thing here is the atmosphere. My only quibbles are addressed at the not very good CGI, some annoying father-son conversations and the overall predictability (which, actually, is quite nonsense for a film that works with fate and predestination). Cage is more than bearable, he’s finally made a good film after a long time. For me, very satisfied 4 stars (though they could have left out the final field escapade…)
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Proyas is a wizard. For a ridiculously low amount of money (by the budgetary standards of modern Hollywood), he delivered an atmospheric visual treat that can send chills down the spine. Though script-wise is like a poor man’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the pathetic conversation with the father and the grain scene look like something out of the Jehovah Witnesses’ magazine Watchtower, I still give it thumbs up for the bold apocalyptic denouement. The film is not without flaws, but you can feel the craftsmanship and the author's passion for the cause, and that is appreciated. Proyas's favourite albinos had a suitably creepy effect, with Cage surprisingly tame and not overacting.
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When watching Knowing, I couldn't help but compare it to a similar film, The Mothman Prophecies, which is firmly situated in the mystery genre - unlike Knowing, which is genre-wise much broader, but essentially it is "bastardized sci-fi," which should be much dearer to me as a fan of the genre. Surprisingly, and I emphasize that I don't consider The Mothman Prophecies a film gem in any way. It's nice that Proyas has decent craftsmanship and tries to create the right atmosphere, but at the same time, he heavily copies from successful films of the past and relies on the most banal and naive ideas about encountering extraterrestrial intelligence. The combination of Close Encounters of the Third Kind with People from Space doesn't appeal to me much, not to mention that at times (e.g., in shots from the alien world or when the camera zooms in on the detail of the American flag waving in the wind), the director slides into blatant kitsch. The script is similar to the directing, in that it steals a lot and routinely puts it together. A separate chapter is Cage's performance. I'm not one of those who sharpen their wit on the topic of his current roles, mainly because most of his titles in recent years fall outside my interest, but his alternating roughly four expressions, with the frightened and stunned one prevailing, really got on my nerves. All in all, the destruction of the world according to Proyas doesn't seem smarter than according to Emmerich, nor is it more entertaining. Overall impression: 40%.
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Photo © SPI International
![Knowing - Promo](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/164/072/164072256_08f040.jpg)
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