Knowing

Sarah and I are back from Christmas break, detoxed from finals and ready to spring back into action! We return to you with... well, we're actually not sure about this one. The first time I saw this movie, it was playing on the overhead screens of a long bus ride at an earsplitting volume that nearly prevented me from sleeping through it. But Nicolas Cage is in it, and that's always one hell of a starting point.



Directed By: Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot)
Starring: Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne
Plot Summary: "This already seems like it's going to be unnecessarily convoluted."

Let's begin by saying that we have several thoughts on Nicolas Cage, and very few of them are positive. Over-acting is a serious affliction for some actors (especially those in the action/sci-fi genres), and if there were a fundraising foundation for the cause, he would be the spokesman. The specific problem with Nic is that although he's really trying, he's completely transparent. We can see him chanting "THIS IS SERIOUS" before the film starts to roll. Nic is a funny, funny man, but it's never intentional. Thus, this compilation, by some brilliant man named Harry Hanrahan:



(Note: Ironically, back in the day, Nic encouraged his friend Johnny to get into acting. So, we can thank Nic Cage for Johnny Depp. Ponder that.)

Observations Made As We Watched:
--"Ugh, let's just watch this... it's like ripping off a band-aid."
--"It's like, because he's a Coppola, he didn't feel the need to take any acting classes, ever."
--"Oh my God, what's wrong with her head? Seriously, why is that little girl's forehead that wide?!"

"IT'S PLOT DEVICE DAY!"

We have a small level of pity for this movie, because the initial concept was actually interesting: There is a prophecy of sorts, in a series of numbers, that predicts all the world's major disasters and death tolls over a span of about 50 years, ending with the complete destruction of Earth. This prophecy is discovered by Nic's son at a time capsule ceremony at his elementary school. Nic, an astrophysics professor at MIT (yeah, MI-f***ing-T), discovers the pattern in the numbers, and the movie goes from there.

Theoretically, this could have been a brilliant movie. Director Alex Proyas is also responsible for one of my personal favorite sci-fi thrillers, I, Robot, a movie that has a lot more things going for it than this one does: a) a twisty plot with no loose ends, b) existential questions about one's life purpose, and c) Will Smith. Knowing, unfortunately, was dull. The movie basically boiled down to "This is happening. We're all going to die and no one can prevent it. There is no conflict here and there are no questions raised. Goodbye." So, after awhile, there just wasn't a point.

The Best Part: The idea.

The Worst Part: The execution.

Oh, Knowing. We see what you did. You had potential, and you tried, but you missed the mark. It's a C- for you.

(Poster and trailer © Summit Entertainment)