Knowing (2009)

Director:

Alex Proyas

Writers (WGA):

Ryne Douglas Pearson (screenplay) and
Juliet Snowden (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 March 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Knowing is Everything...

Plot:

A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Plot Keywords:

Number | School | Disaster | Time Capsule | Drawing

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	John Koestler
Chandler Canterbury	...	Caleb Koestler
Rose Byrne	...	Diana Wayland
Lara Robinson	...	Abby Wayland / Lucinda
D.G. Maloney	...	The Stranger
Nadia Townsend	...	Grace Koestler
Alan Hopgood	...	Reverend Koestler
Adrienne Pickering	...	Allison Koestler
Joshua Long	...	Younger Caleb
Danielle Carter	...	Miss Taylor (1959)
Alethea McGrath	...	Miss Taylor (2009)
David Lennie	...	Principal Clark (1959)
Tamara Donnellan	...	Lucinda's Mother
Travis Waite	...	Lucinda's Father
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Phil Beckman

Also Known As:

Know1ng (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45115) | Ireland:15A | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Czech Republic:12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-13 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:12 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:12 | Peru:14 | Japan:G | Brazil:12 | South Africa:13V | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Summit Entertainment

Trivia:

The predicament of being able to see future disaster while fearing no-one will believe you is called The Cassandra Complex, after a Greek myth.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Lucinda wrote the numbers in 1959, she appears to be aged 8-10 yrs old. When she dies in 1988, a newspaper reveals her to be 33 yrs old. Even though this would mean that she had only aged around 25 years in a 29 year period, she may have been older than she looked in the opening scenes of the movie. Also, it is worth noting that newspapers regularly get such information wrong.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Miss Taylor: Everyone inside now!

Movie Connections:

References "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Beethoven Symphony No 7 in A Major, Op 92 (1811-12) 2nd Movement: Allegretto

Worth Seeing – Before the End!

From the trailers of Knowing you'd be convinced that you're going to watch a cheesy, try to save the world picture with a wound tight Nicolas Cage at the center gritting his teeth and ducking his way to the perfect ending. Well, you'd be partially correct. Cage is definitely giving his wound tight hero routine that he's worked so hard to develop over the last half dozen films. As for the cheese factor, that's where you'll be surprised. Director Alex Proyas manages to deliver a rather decent sci-fi flick that has plenty of suspense and intelligence.

The plot turns around John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), an MIT astrophysics nerd turned Indiana Jones when a time capsule is discovered at his young son Caleb's (Chandler Canterbury) school. Inside are drawings from students in 1959 predicting what things would be like in 2009 some 50 years later. The drawing that Caleb comes home with isn't a drawing at all but a series of seemingly random numbers. Koestler becomes obsessed with the numbers and their meaning or what they seem to mean. The whole thing shakes him to his scientific core and a quest has begun.

The film is very lucky to have director Alex Proyas from films such as Dark City which is his true geek film and critical acclaim as well as I, Robot and Garage Days. The visual and special effects are outstanding. It was surprising how much suspense was in the script (Ryan Douglas Pearson and Juliet Snowden) which gave the film a real thriller atmosphere which continues to build in tone as the mystery is unraveled.

I admit I went into this film expecting a rehash of National Treasure on a more global scale. The sci-fi aspect of the premise is very well thought out and told. The acting by co-stars (Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne and Lara Robinson) are solid performances and stand in complementary contrast to that of the tightly wound Nicolas Cage. The geek factor of Knowing is rather high with lots of number configurations and what-if scenarios which is great for the sci-fi fans. At times your brain may have to turn on in order to follow the film, but that is what made Knowing such a pleasant surprise to me.*