Exciting & mysterious but just a little too long...

Rating: 7/10 (14 April 2010)

I have heard many mixed reviews about this film, so it was with a little trepidation I put the disc in the DVD player. I shouldn't have worried, I can see why the reviews are mixed, but over all it's not all that bad. Admittedly, it could have been done a lot better, but I'll accept it as it stands. The setting is Massachusetts in the United States and we start in the year 1959.
Lucinda Embry is a loner and she hears whispering voices that she doesn't talk about. To celebrate the opening of a new school it is decided that they will bury a time capsule at Lucinda's suggestion. All of the class are to draw pictures of what they think life will be like in 50 years time, when the capsule will be opened. Lucinda just writes down numbers and her teacher, exasperated, puts her effort in anyway. On the day the capsule is buried Lucinda goes missing and is eventually found in a basement closet scratching more numbers into the door. We now switch to Massachusetts of the present day (2009) where MIT professor, John Koestler lives alone with his son Caleb. It just happens that Caleb attends the same school that Lucinda went to 50 years before. On the day of the opening of the capsule Caleb is handed Lucinda's envelope, which he takes home. John sees the numbers and is intrigued by them. He works out that the numbers represent disasters that have happened in the past, along with the number of fatalities and the location. The trouble is, there are three events that are yet to happen! He tries to find Lucinda, but she had died some time ago, but she had a daughter, Diana Wayland. John eventually tracks Diana down; she too has a daughter, Abby. As the predictions from Lucinda's numbers come true, John realises what the last event will be and what the consequences are for the entire human race. I think that's enough spoilers for one day!
It's a very well made film with a lot of use of CGI, possibly too much IMHO. There's plenty of excitement to keep the tempo up and quite a decent soundtrack. An element of mystery kept me interested until the end, but I did find it a little too long. Decent performances from all of the major players, honourable mentions go to Nicolas Cage as Professor Jonathan 'John' Koestler, Chandler Canterbury as Caleb Koestler, Rose Byrne as Diana Wayland and Lara Robinson as Abby Wayland & Lucinda Embry.
It's not the best film of its genre, but it's certainly not the worst. I found it pretty entertaining and the mystery of the 'strangers' kept me enthralled (I know I didn't mention them earlier). Over all, it's a little over long and relies a little too heavily on CGI, but apart from that it's not all that bad. Recommended for entertainment & mystery, but you'll probably only watch it once.
My score: 7.1/10