Knowing: An Engrossing Apocalyptic Thriller
Written: Sep 09 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Bang For The Buck |
 |
|
|
Pros: engrossing, vivid graphics, interesting themes, intense apocalyptic thriller, kid actors
Cons: average adult acting, some holes/questions in plot
The Bottom Line: OK, I still want to know what's up with the shiny black stones...
|
|
|
| jeavinl's Full Review: Knowing |
Apocalyptic movies can be creepy and unnerving but I love them. Add in mysterious codes and questions about faith and I'm sold. Knowing, a movie that came out this year starring Nicolas Cage, satisfies all those requirements.
Nicolas Cage plays John Koestler, an MIT professor and single dad to Caleb, played by Chandler Canterbury. Caleb's school unearths a time capsule that was placed in the ground 50 years ago with pictures and messages from its previous students showing their visions of the future. While most kids in Caleb's class are given cute illustrations from the capsule to look at, he gets a folded sheet filled edge to edge with numbers. The numbers end up spelling out disasters past, present, and future for the Earth and its population and it becomes a race against time to figure out the code and stop the inevitable.
There are a lot of creepy scenes in this movie that made me jump and/or squeeze my husband's arm. There are odd strangers who turn up in even odder places, eerie music, and dark forests. There are also biblical allusions and shiny black stones that appear out of the blue.
In addition to the creepy scenes, there are some downright brutal carnage scenes. If you're turned off by disaster movies that show buildings toppling or people on fire, steer clear of this. Had I known how graphic some of it was, I might not have watched it. But I have to admit, the scenes were appropriate for the plot and really made the urgency and danger hit home.
One of the things I liked about this movie was how it debated the idea of whether things are predetermined or just part of chaos theory and happen randomly. It's pretty thought provoking and presented in a down-to-earth way.
The acting was average. The kids were the best. The little girl, Lara Robinson, who played both Lucinda Whelan, the disturbed girl who penned the number sheet, and Lucinda's granddaughter Abby, was excellent in both roles. And Chandler Canterbury did a good job as Caleb. Nicolas Cage was good as well. He was believable as a protective dad and widower who lost faith and a belief in purpose other than to raise his little boy. Rose Byrne as Diana Whelan, the daughter of Lucinda, did an adequate job as well. The other minor characters were satisfactory.
The story and the thriller aspects were what held my attention and what really deserve remark. Kudos to the writers and the director. I'm OK with thrillers, but this almost played out as a horror movie at times. It spooked me and kept me thinking after the credits, a sign of a good movie in my opinion. There were several questions that weren't answered at the end but it sort of gave the movie a mysterious element so I won't nitpick about the lack of an explanation for the shiny black stones.
This movie is science, sci-fi, religion, philosophy, and thriller rolled into one. I was engrossed from the start and never checked to see if the movie was almost over. This was a good one. A little far-fetched but good nonetheless.
************************************************
Sleeper54 is hosting the 9/9/99-9/9/09 write-off today in honor of 10 years of Epinions.com. Join in and write your own review. Where else can you share your thoughts about everything from a vacuum to a toilet bowl cleaner to... an apocalyptic thriller. I am proud to be part of this site and a member of its dedicated community of writers. Here's to many more years of success and growth for the site and its members.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Scary Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Cast
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.