Do you have any idea how great it is to walk into a movie that you don't have great expectations for and be completely surprised by how good it is? It does not happen often, but when it does, it is like getting punched in the face with a brick. Knowing is one of those movies. Despite having a rather terrible title and a lackluster collection of trailers, Knowing has proven to be one of the stronger entries through the first three months of 2009, not to mention a film that is capable of inspiring some deep thoughts (none of which I will be able to fully bring to the table here). Do not let the fact that Nicolas Cage is the lead sway you, he takes charge of the film, playing the skeptic in all of us and goes a long way toward reminding us why he is an Oscar winner.
I must admit that when I saw the first trailer for Knowing and glimpsed the uninspired poster (which looks like it was lifted from Spielberg's War of the Worlds) I was left decidedly flat. When you look at Nicolas Cage's recent track record, you will find such winners as Next, Bangkok Dangerous, and Ghost Rider, nothing that you could consider to be all that intelligent (although, I do enjoy a couple of them). Could he carry an intelligent science fiction film? Then you can factor in director Alex Proyas, does he still have an artistic core to him? He delivered with early films such as The Crow and Dark City (the latter was named the best film of 1998 by Roger Ebert), but his last film was a Hollywood-infected take on classic Isaac Asimov source material, I, Robot.
As Knowing unfolded before me, I was drawn deeper and deeper into the tale. This is a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There is a delicious slow burn quality permeating each frame. You are only given what you need to know, and even then it is barely enough. Knowing forces you to engage, to become involved, but it does so in such a way that you may not even be aware of it at first.
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Article comments
1 - Jacki
As soon as I saw all the vitriol and "I'm-so'clever" bashing coming from the US critics I put this little number on my "must-see" list. I don't know what it is about the glitterazi elite, is it Australia they don't like or Nicholas Cage?... they just love to trash anything connected with this side of the world - and they love to trash Nic. And then our Aussie "critics" follow whatever the US lot said - like sheep. 'Australia' exceeded it's reviews and was loved by the average movie-goer. I'm not surprised this movie does too. Thanks for the review!! :) Can't wait to see it.
2 - Andy
I just saw this movie and loved it. The ending was confusing, but when you look back you see all the connections and foreshadowing in the beginning
3 - Jeremy
This was a great film - i loved it.
But a question - why was it necessary (beyond the requirements of a script) to have the whole 50-year prophecy message - surely if the ending of the film is to be taken seriously (i'm trying not to give it away here) then it was just not necessary to leave a message in 1959 about what was to unfold in the ensuing 50 years?
this is my only misgiving - a feast of a film
Jeremy
4 - laz
the ending SUCKED!
aliens? spaceships? rabbits and a new world?
puhh-lease.
5 - Clarence Yu
Thanks for the review. My wife had heard "negative" reviews about the movie and decided we weren't going to see it. I'm seeing this one soon.
6 - kris
i will sooner be slitting my wrists with a spoon than ever watching another film with nicholas cage. everybody on earth dies except the two poor acting kids who are whisked away to another planet by whispering aliens?....how could anyone say this is a good film?
7 - mark london
ok most people who say rabbits new world & spaceships who say that has no idea what the movie was about NORMAL because the movie is about the bibl & end of days
the voices that the kids hear are angels & god send his angels to take his children/people away thats why the children did not die when the world ended they went into heaven the spaceship had to be added for peolpe to understand & say OHHHH ALIENS but really there is no aliens in the movie to some that was the holyspirit that took the children into heaven but people cant understand how so they made this huge spaceship thing to take them just to make people understand & the TREE AT THE END OF THE MOVIE IS THE TREE OF LIFE
godbles everyone read revelations in the bible GREAT MOVIE & YES NOTICE THE SMALL THINGS IN THE MOVIE THE PASTOR THE HATE HIS SON HAD.......
8 - vivek raj karki
JUst wathed the movei, late night. cool one. i was expecting it to be like "happening" from the name and that sci-fiction thing.this is interesting one, the 50 year time capsule thing, children hearing voices and then the women writing things under her bed. but i could not understand two things, 1 st if those children heard voices 50 years later , and might other's too, why was that lady hearing those voices 50 years eirlier, and then of course ending is a mistery, and also i guess this would have had better endings without those freeking alians. anyways great movie, i suggest every movie lover and sci-fiction lovers to watch it.
and by the way does this also relates to that "end of world in 2012" shit??
9 - Killenz
I get a adam and eva feeling at the end, a boy and a girl running towards a big tree. Then they're going to return to the earth after a while and start building up the world. What do you think?
10 - Greg
I've seen this movie get some pretty bad reviews. Calling it a mix between "Deep Impact", "The number 23", etc. So show me a movie that doesn't have some mix of other ideas in it...
It was good. The movie does grab you and you won't be waiting for it to just end. There were some scenes I thought were a little too much, a little too sappy and too much heart strings, but hey some people like that stuff.
Since many posts here seem to give away spoilers, it wasn't just the two kids that were saved. There were others as well, or it was implied by the other "ships/angels" in the background taking off from earth and from the new place. The tree of life symbolism was cool and of course the two kids were a kind of Adam and Eve.
Makes us wonder how the earth will really end, and if any of us will see it.