Finally, they made a good one!

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2009)

My Take: While the plot isn't great literature, There are some intriguing twists and some occasionally spooky moments.
Finally, the movie that M. Night Shymalan might have made if he hadn't done the disappointing LADY IN THE WATER, and the movie Nicolas Cage should have made instead of abominations such as GHOST RIDER and THE WICKER MAN; A supernatural thriller dipped in science fiction and sprinkled with a little religiosity, KNOWING has in it to make it more than just a thriller in namesake. This time they did it right, even if there are some moments that "jump the shark" as far as plot twists are concerned.
The film opens in 1959, where students of William Dawes Elementary School were asked to sketch their own view of the future, which will then be stored inside a time capsule. While other students busily draw their own versions of futuristic automobiles and rocket ships, mentally disturbed Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson) disturbingly writes a series of numbers which might be a numerical sequence of sorts. Forward 5 decades later, the time capsule is unearth during an annual school ceremony, where the drawings stored inside are distributed each to a new generation of students. Astrophysicist John Koestler (Cage) and his son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) end up with Lucinda's work. what seems to be simply a set of randomly written numerals turns out to be a cryptic numerical list of every major disaster in the last decades, along with the number of casualties, in perfect sequence. See where we're getting here? Soon, Cage runs around in desperate attempt to warn everyone of the upcoming doom predicted in the code. But just when twists are starting to wear out, the script dishes out the usual "big twist" that abandons the restrains of reality.
Not that it matters. Under the hands of DARK CITY director Alex Proyas, any plot implausibilities and reality lapses are handled with some seriousness and poignancy that makes it sound less ridiculous than it really is. KNOWING may be a silly thriller if given in the hands of another somewhat lesser director, but Proyas does an adequate job that proves his up for the challenge. Cage is still less the actor he was in his better years, an aftertaste some of his previous efforts have left, but gives a rather adequate performance that goes way over the top in several laughable sequences, but does carry most of the film. Co-star Rose Byrne, who plays the disturbed Lucinda's daughter, is a good actress put to a lesser use in the movie (not even a love interest),. It may just be a case that the material is better than the people who act it out. The intriguing, sometimes screwy, plot is filled with interesting twists that, silly as they might get, come at you with some surprise that it still often startles somehow. There are a share of laughable moments that I'm perfectly aware of are supposed to be dead serious, but getting passed them, there are moments successfully pulled-off by Proyas. The special effects are terrific, sometimes frightening, but thankfully doesn't upstage the plot.
Nic Cage fans (as in former Nic Cage fans) will be surprised and delighted. Basically, KNOWING is better in every aspect some of his earlier movies have miserably failed. Let's face it, KNOWING could have been (and may still be) another paycheck role for the once great Cage, but this time, in KNOWING, even we to get our money's worth.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.