Knowing

Knowing is directed by Alex Proyas and collectively written by Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. It stars Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Lara Robinson, Ben Mendelsohn and Nadia Townsend. Music is by Marco Beltrami and cinematography by Simon Duggan.

1959, and young schoolgirl Lucinda Embry (Robinson) keeps hearing voices. When asked to submit a drawing for the school time capsule– that's to be opened in 50 years time,– she writes a series of random numbers that don't appear to make sense. Forward to 50 years and the grand opening of the capsule, where Professor Jonathan Koestler (Cage) and his young son come by way of Lucinda's numbers. Just what do they mean? If anything?...

Ah yes, the good old disaster movie, a genre of film that continues unabated through the decades, this in spite of critical indifference. But the paying public still keep turning up in droves, even in this new technological age. Where once was models being destroyed, and paintings forming elegant backdrops, now is whizz bangery that costs a fortune. Still great fun, though, which is why something like Knowing exists and has many fans.

It's a splendid piece of sci-fi hokum pulsing with supernatural overtones, a gentle creeper unravelling the mystery in layers until the final countdown begins. The science is obviously dubious (it's a movie folks) and the air of pessimism that hovers consistently over proceedings (not only is the world in trouble, but all the protags have miserable issues as well), may be too much for some. However, Cage is as committed as ever, Proyas yet again proves himself a beautiful visualist, while the scenes of carnage are truly harrowing and unforgettable.

A popcorner with moments of wonder and awe, and yes of course, some cheese as well. Ignore the Cage haters, if you like sci-fi infused disaster movies and haven't had fun with this one yet, then do so, it's a blast. And did I say it's gorgeous to look at as well? It is!… 7/10

Knowing is one of Nicholas Cage's lesser films, that's true, but it's nearly as bad as the majority of the critics reviews. Knowing is a science fiction film starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne. The plot surrounds children who are able to tell when the worlds most horrific disasters and atrocities happened. Figuring out how these kids know these things and what the numbers mean is really what the entire movie is about. The performances are pretty good from the two leads. Byrne and Cage both turn in believable performances. I think that the script was average, the writers did their job, it's nothing spectacular but it suffices. The idea of the movie was very interesting and it's executed well for the most part. There are some parts of the movie that do feel kind of lackluster but they pale in comparison to the ending and how interesting it turns out to be. Some people said they thought the ending was too weird and random but I think it was unexpected and cool. And I think the way in which it ended gave the film a meaning. Overall yes I would recommend Knowing, it's not one I'd go to automatically when recommending films to people but I would say it's a fairly interesting watch. 7/10.

A disillusioned professor in the Boston area (Nicolas Cage) acquires a document that has successfully predicted tragedies for the last fifty years, but new ones as well (!). Rose Byrne plays the daughter of the seer.

"Knowing" (2009) is a quality drama/mystery with elements of disaster/sci-fi and even a little horror. It's along the lines of wonder-inducing flicks like "The Mothman Prophecies" (2002), "Contact" (1997), "The Forgotten" (2004), "The X-Files: Fight the Future" (1998), "Signs" (2002), "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (2008) and "War of the Worlds" (2005). If you favor the style and themes of those movies you'll probably like this one.

The film runs 2 hours, 1 minute and was shot in Victoria, Australia, with establishing shots of the Boston/Cambridge area.

GRADE: B

This movie was a nice surprise. I usually don't like Nicholas Cage movies. Any of them. But he was perfectly cast for this science fiction piece and delivered a solid, believable performance.

The story itself was brand new, not a rehash of any tale that I can recall.

The directing allowed you to see the film without knowing until the very end what was happening - which was great. I usually enjoy figuring out the end before it gets there, because it usually seems that if I CAN'T figure it out... the movie is poor. That has been my experience. But Knowing delivered a solid mystery up to the end, with the type of finale where one thinks, "Oh, I should have seen it coming, those 100 things that happened all make sense!" Really, all the little details came together in a flash of a solid closing.

I also appreciated that there were no loose ends. Everything was tied together in a neat bow with nothing hanging out.

The only negative that I have will sound humorous to you if you don't see the movie, but I won't spoil it for you except to say that the metaphor of a pair of bunnies wasn't necessary.

Catch this movie when you can, it's definitely worth it.

I only really wanted to write this because it made it number 1000 but tbh, this movie is actually pretty good. It's one of those Nic Cage movies in-between all his weird stuff that turned out good like the 1st National Treasure. Check it out. It's worth more of your time than half the garbage spat out these days. Its a classic run of the mill worlds going to end films but has a couple interesting takes on it. Its been quite a while since i watched it ngl. He plays a teacher who finds a time capsule that has some code inside that needs deciphered to help save the world. Has pretty good pacing and a satisfying conclusion.