Starts out great, then decomposes later

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 2009)

The best part of "Knowing" was the first part: In 1959, a schoolgirl seems to be hearing voices. They command her to ask her teacher to create a time capsule (good thing the school principal said yes), and to write down a series of numbers and put them into the time capsule (good thing the teacher said yes). This part is creepy, gripping, and suspenseful--we're waiting to find out what this all means, and what happens when the time capsule is eventually unearthed.
Fast forward to 2009, when it's unearthed. A schoolboy gets a hold of the numbers. His astrophysicist father (played by Nicholas Cage) figures out what the numbers mean--they're references to all the disasters that will have taken place since 1959. Too bad this list of disasters didn't include the second half of this movie.
Because as the plot moves forward past this point, it gets extremely jumbled, with plot elements that are introduced and seem important (like the camera keeps focusing on them), but are never explained. There are too many plot holes to list here. And the connection between the sci-fi elements and the obvious Christianity allusions seems weak; it's as if the producers started out with a straightforward sci-fi/thriller plot, and then decided to overlay Christianity on top of it.
Also, the plot seems far too derivative; it is reminiscent of "The DaVinci Code," "Signs," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," with even some "Chariots of the Gods" stuff thrown in.
The acting is mediocre; Nicolas Cage seems miscast as the astrophysicist plunged into mysticism and horror; and there isn't much chemistry between the characters.
All in all, "Knowing" was a disappointment. It's as if the producers had exactly one good idea--the premise of the numbers placed by the schoolgirl in the time capsule--but didn't know quite what to do with it.