Knowing, by Escape Artists and Summit Entertainment
Starring Nicolas Cage
Rated PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Genre: Disaster Thriller
If someone were suddenly whispering to you something that you were compelled to write down, that you could not immediately discern, what would be your reaction? It would probably be to do so, as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. That is what little Lucinda Embry did back in 1959 at her school, when her class was preparing items to store inside a time capsule to be opened in 50 years; she filled her paper with numbers. These numbers turn out to have dire consequences for one who recovers them in the future, the son of an astrophysicist (Cage), who begins hearing the whispers as well. Who was whispering these numbers to these certain people, and how are they chosen? Does whoever is sending these messages have our best interests at heart? And why is it suddenly getting so hot?
Knowing is quite a masterful suspense tale which attempts to answer these questions, and provides a lot more in return. However, the end results are quite good. Alex Proyas, who also directed I, Robot with Will Smith back in 2004, adds a bit of religious undertone to this piece, and maybe a bit of allegory as well. Throughout the movie we hear talk of angels, heaven and God, but from an agnostic standpoint as presented by Cage’s character. He doesn’t believe, but if he’s given proof, he will. John Koestler (Cage) is a firm believer in randomness as opposed to determinism, meaning according to him, that stuff just happens, after his wife died a year back, but after he receives those numbers, a revelation he has about them leads him to believe more in determinism, meaning that things happen for a reason, as those who watched the movie will soon find out.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. In fact, I enjoy pretty much everything that I see Nicolas Cage in: he brings an edge of quirkiness and seriousness to each role that he portrays, and his role of John Koestler is no different. The other actors play their roles just fine, with the proper ambience being set. I’ll have to leave it at that for fear of revealing plot points.
I’ll give this one four stars out of five.