| "Knowing is Everything…” |
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Knowing
CINEMA/APPROX. 121 MINS/2009/USA M
CINEMA/APPROX. 121 MINS/2009/USA M
9
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It's 1959 and a young mentally disturbed schoolgirl named Lucinda wins a competition for the best idea as what they should do in 50 years.
Lucinda suggests that the whole class should draw a picture and place it inside a tightly sealed time capsule, so the kids 50 years later can
understand what it was like to live back in the 50s.
It's now 2009 and a partly deaf boy named Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury - Powder Blue, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) attends
his school for the ceremony opening day of the time capsule. Caleb is handed an envelope from Lucinda's old retired school teacher. Opening the
letter he finds several pieces of paper filled with a series of seemingly random strings of numbers that don’t quite make much sense. Though for
some strange reason, he soon begins to hear whispering voices telling him to take the letter home, where his father John (Nicolas Cage - National
Treasure, Ghostrider) an MIT astrophysics scientist becomes obsessed with the numbers and realises that each line of numbers has a significant
purpose as the dates and times are actually of a major disaster that has occurred in the last 50 years or is about to occur. John believes that
Lucinda had the ability to foresee the future and it’s his fate to decrypt the strings of digits within the letters to save humanity from any more
natural disasters.
Firstly I got to say Alex Proyas is one of my favourite directors of all time, and again he has brought us another freakishly eye-opening movie that
will send cold chills up any viewer’s spine. Most directors look at a screenplay and just shoot it from a budget perspective and don’t really give
much thought for the story itself, only wanting to save as much money as possible in the hopes of cashing in. This is where Alex Proyas really gets
the upper hand as he knows how to cater to a targeted audience, while bringing a screenplay to life, capturing simple words from a script and
projecting them into an unforgettable film that you’ll never get bored of watching over and over again. Proyas has already proven himself in the
past, with such titles as The Crow (1996), Dark City (1998) not to mention I Robot (2004). Knowing is another notch in this talented director’s
belt, with breathtaking special/visual effects, making you feel every split second of each impact scene, topped off with a well picked cast to keep
you highly entertained towards the rolling end credits. But like any other movie, with the good also comes the bad, and like all ‘coming to the end’
type of films you’ll find the usual biblical references. Once again Knowing is clustered with these damn biblical references which from an atheist’s
point of view is becoming a little stale.
Nicolas Cage is an actor I enjoy watching from time to time but there are other times I find Cage rather annoying as his voice tone never really
changes, though to be fair, Cage has managed to creatively grow into a reasonably entertaining actor over the past 10 years. I guess it all boils
down to who is directing and writing the script. Cage’s performance in Knowing is simply astonishing at certain times, but sadly, I kept on getting
the feeling I was watching another National Treasure film with him constantly running around solving puzzles. But since the screenplay has a
puzzle like embedded into it, Cage’s performance and the movie actually pays off in the long run. Young cast member Chandler Canterbury is also
one talented little actor, I am pretty amazed that this little guy has only appeared in a handful of movies. Fingers cross that Chandler lands a few
more big budgets roles later down the track. And how can I forget the beautiful Australian actress Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later, The Dead Girl)
whose role I also thoroughly enjoyed, as her character goes from an everyday single mother to an out-of-control frantic woman who, no matter
what, will do anything to save her child, even if the world is coming to a end. Rose Byrne has always managed to do a remarkable job with
whatever acting role is thrown her way and nails her role in the Knowing.
As I mentioned before the special/visual effects are out of this world. Now I am not a huge fan when it comes to movies that are heavy on the CGI
but the special and visual effects crew really out did themselves with this movie. Never in my life has my mind been blown to the point of leaving
me thinking “How the fuck did they manage to create that” so many times in a movie. One fantastic effects scene I highly enjoyed was watching
people running around on fire, it just felt and looked so damn real. Also surprisingly the whole movie was shot in Melbourne, Australia, using
various locations to represent the film's setting, from Boston Massachusetts. What a bonus for us Aussies….
I also have to give two thumbs up to music composer Marco Beltrami. His score for Knowing was definitely original and the icing on the cake.
Usually after I watch a movie I tend to forget all about the score, but that wasn't the case with this movie. The score alone will surely put Beltrami
up for another Oscar as did his previous work on 3:10 to Yuma (2007).
I highly recommend you check out Knowing right now at your local cinema as soon as possible. It has everything a viewer wants to see in a movie,
it caters for the whole family and most importantly leaves you feeling satisfied that it was well worth every dollar spent. Though don’t forget to
upgrade to the large bucket of popcorn and soda because you are going to be needing it.
Lucinda suggests that the whole class should draw a picture and place it inside a tightly sealed time capsule, so the kids 50 years later can
understand what it was like to live back in the 50s.
It's now 2009 and a partly deaf boy named Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury - Powder Blue, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) attends
his school for the ceremony opening day of the time capsule. Caleb is handed an envelope from Lucinda's old retired school teacher. Opening the
letter he finds several pieces of paper filled with a series of seemingly random strings of numbers that don’t quite make much sense. Though for
some strange reason, he soon begins to hear whispering voices telling him to take the letter home, where his father John (Nicolas Cage - National
Treasure, Ghostrider) an MIT astrophysics scientist becomes obsessed with the numbers and realises that each line of numbers has a significant
purpose as the dates and times are actually of a major disaster that has occurred in the last 50 years or is about to occur. John believes that
Lucinda had the ability to foresee the future and it’s his fate to decrypt the strings of digits within the letters to save humanity from any more
natural disasters.
Firstly I got to say Alex Proyas is one of my favourite directors of all time, and again he has brought us another freakishly eye-opening movie that
will send cold chills up any viewer’s spine. Most directors look at a screenplay and just shoot it from a budget perspective and don’t really give
much thought for the story itself, only wanting to save as much money as possible in the hopes of cashing in. This is where Alex Proyas really gets
the upper hand as he knows how to cater to a targeted audience, while bringing a screenplay to life, capturing simple words from a script and
projecting them into an unforgettable film that you’ll never get bored of watching over and over again. Proyas has already proven himself in the
past, with such titles as The Crow (1996), Dark City (1998) not to mention I Robot (2004). Knowing is another notch in this talented director’s
belt, with breathtaking special/visual effects, making you feel every split second of each impact scene, topped off with a well picked cast to keep
you highly entertained towards the rolling end credits. But like any other movie, with the good also comes the bad, and like all ‘coming to the end’
type of films you’ll find the usual biblical references. Once again Knowing is clustered with these damn biblical references which from an atheist’s
point of view is becoming a little stale.
Nicolas Cage is an actor I enjoy watching from time to time but there are other times I find Cage rather annoying as his voice tone never really
changes, though to be fair, Cage has managed to creatively grow into a reasonably entertaining actor over the past 10 years. I guess it all boils
down to who is directing and writing the script. Cage’s performance in Knowing is simply astonishing at certain times, but sadly, I kept on getting
the feeling I was watching another National Treasure film with him constantly running around solving puzzles. But since the screenplay has a
puzzle like embedded into it, Cage’s performance and the movie actually pays off in the long run. Young cast member Chandler Canterbury is also
one talented little actor, I am pretty amazed that this little guy has only appeared in a handful of movies. Fingers cross that Chandler lands a few
more big budgets roles later down the track. And how can I forget the beautiful Australian actress Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later, The Dead Girl)
whose role I also thoroughly enjoyed, as her character goes from an everyday single mother to an out-of-control frantic woman who, no matter
what, will do anything to save her child, even if the world is coming to a end. Rose Byrne has always managed to do a remarkable job with
whatever acting role is thrown her way and nails her role in the Knowing.
As I mentioned before the special/visual effects are out of this world. Now I am not a huge fan when it comes to movies that are heavy on the CGI
but the special and visual effects crew really out did themselves with this movie. Never in my life has my mind been blown to the point of leaving
me thinking “How the fuck did they manage to create that” so many times in a movie. One fantastic effects scene I highly enjoyed was watching
people running around on fire, it just felt and looked so damn real. Also surprisingly the whole movie was shot in Melbourne, Australia, using
various locations to represent the film's setting, from Boston Massachusetts. What a bonus for us Aussies….
I also have to give two thumbs up to music composer Marco Beltrami. His score for Knowing was definitely original and the icing on the cake.
Usually after I watch a movie I tend to forget all about the score, but that wasn't the case with this movie. The score alone will surely put Beltrami
up for another Oscar as did his previous work on 3:10 to Yuma (2007).
I highly recommend you check out Knowing right now at your local cinema as soon as possible. It has everything a viewer wants to see in a movie,
it caters for the whole family and most importantly leaves you feeling satisfied that it was well worth every dollar spent. Though don’t forget to
upgrade to the large bucket of popcorn and soda because you are going to be needing it.
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