Knowing (2009)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

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:

Time Capsule | Teacher | Prediction | School | Person On Fire

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	John Koestler
Chandler Canterbury	...	Caleb Koestler
Rose Byrne	...	Diana
Lara Robinson	...	Abby / Lucinda
D.G. Maloney	...	The Stranger
Nadia Townsend	...	Grace
Alan Hopgood	...	Reverend Koestler
Adrienne Pickering	...	Allison
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 Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Czech Republic:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-13 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:12 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:12 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Summit Entertainment

Trivia:

Richard Kelly was originally set to write and direct the project.

Goofs:

Continuity: When John is teaching at MIT in the beginning of the movie, there is a female student in the front row, to the left of John. In one shot she has her arm up and is playing with her hair. In the next shot she is in a completely different position with her arm down. Then, it goes back to a shot of her with her arm up.

Quotes:

John Koestler: The caves won't save us!

Movie Connections:

References "Creature Comforts" (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Planets: Op. 43: IV Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity

Don't let Nic Cage scare you, Alex Proyas is a genius and this is his best work yet......

Don't let Nicolas Cage's name on the marquee scare you away, this is the director of The Crow and Dark City given free reign, and it is amazing, assuming you accept a revelation about 2/3 of the way in. The ambition here is pretty staggering by the end.

Having just seen this, I predict viewers of it will fall into two camps: unabashed love or extreme dislike save for a few scenes (the plane and subway scenes come to mind). How you accept the final third will determine which camp you are placed in. I was confused by Ebert giving it four stars and then hearing others whose opinions I also often agree with eviscerate it, but after seeing it this makes total sense.

I fall into the unabashed love category, and absolutely did not expect to going in. My brother Doug felt the same way. I think Cage actually gives a good performance, and feel like most of the criticism on his part is either residual from other aspects of the movie people don't like or just bandwagon stuff that he admittedly wrought upon himself with multiple disasters such as LaBute's Wicker Man.