Review: Knowing (2009)

[Scott Mendelson]

Knowing
2009
120 minutes
Rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Knowing is an awfully odd duck of a movie. It is also unexpectedly
brave, going in directions that the trailers barely hint at and that
audiences surely will not expect. I was lucky enough to see this
relatively blind. If you have any intention of seeing this film, I
heartily recommend you do the same. This is a severely flawed, but
also a fascinating and engrossing science fiction film, a picture that
offers far more than surface thrills.

A token amount of plot - John Koestler (Nicolas Cage, in a mostly low-
key, in the service of the story performance) is a college science
teacher who is still mourning the death of his wife. Left to raise his
partially deaf son alone, he is obviously on edge and perhaps all too
susceptible to mathematical coincidence. When his son is given a
letter from a fifty-year old time capsule, a letter which is nothing
but numbers from head to toe, John inexplicably realizes that the
numbers seem to be pointing out the dates and body counts of every
major disaster of the last fifty years. Is this just bizarre
coincidence? If not, then what about the several would-be disasters
that have yet to happen?

Yes, the film starts out as a moodier variation on the superior first
act of Jim Carrey's The Number 23 (the rest of the movie... not so
much). But it eventually progresses into something far different,
something that deals with predestination, free will, and the terrible
burden of foreknowledge in a fashion that will be familiar to fans of
director Alex Proyas's previous genre films (The Crow, Dark City, I
Robot). Like Dark City (although this film isn't nearly as good as
that genre-defining masterpiece), Knowing asks just what is the point
of our lives and our actions if everything is mapped out for us by
forces beyond our control. On the other hand, if there is no fate, no
great plan, then why bother to excel, to build lives for ourselves, if
it can all be rendered moot by random chance? Does either ideology
negate both the consequences of our choices and actions and the
concept of personal responsibility?

Nicolas Cage's journey eventually brings him in contact with the grown
daughter (Rose Byrne of TV's Damages) of the young girl who wrote the
original time capsule number sheet, as well as pale-skinned, dark-
suited strangers who seem to be in tune with what is really going on
(sorry, couldn't resist). While the third act falters with too many
repetitious scenes of meaningless action and incident (avoiding
spoilers here), the film eventually builds up a Stephen King-type
dread, the fear of inevitability. Like many of King's stories, the
theoretical end-game of Knowing is revealed just soon enough for us to
wonder if the tragedies can actually be prevented. But like Dark City
(and Hancock for that matter), this is a film that still has story to
tell right up until the final scenes. And the finale goes for
emotional impact rather than pure technical merits, which makes the
climax surprisingly potent all around (like Dark City, there is at
least one image that is completely unexpected and will take your
breath away).

This is not a perfect film. The characters occasionally do dumb things
(the leads leave their cars with the engine turned on and the keys in
the ignition at least three times) and the third act drags between
some major reveals and the climax of the picture. But this is a much
darker, more somber, and far more meaningful picture than I was
expecting. The supporting characters bring a refreshing intelligence
to the proceedings, and the relationships between friends and family
feels worn in and authentic. Nicolas Cage is certainly put to better
use here than in Bangkok Dangerous, although those who yearn for the
return of 'wild and crazy Cage' will be disappointed.

Knowing is a solid science fiction picture with much on its mind. By
daring to not explicitly answer its many questions regarding
predestination and free will, it allows for debate and discussion. It
may not be a great film, but it is a genuinely good film that is
genuinely haunting.

Grade: B