Creepy and Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (22 March 2009)

I didn't enjoy Knowing. The story didn't make any sense and the film was fairly depressing. It's a big budget Hollywood movie so it's well made and has excellent special effects. However If you have had a stressful week and are looking for some light entertainment, this film is probably not for you. I considered walking out, it was one of the worst films I have seen in awhile
The film starts in 1959 with a strange little girl is able to predict catastrophic events where lots of people die. She deposits a page of numbers into a time capsule which is re-opened in 2009. She forecasts the end of the world and becomes a very odd woman who dies living alone. Nick Cage analyzes patterns in the numbers and bizarre things start to happen.
Nick Cage's character is not very appealing. He plays an alcoholic, MIT professor who grieves for his dead wife. Cage's character is unhappy, estranged from his family and won't let his young son do normal things like play soccer or stay with friends. The movie features creepy aliens who turn up periodically and just watch, we don't find out their role until the end.
Biblical prophesy is mentioned and there is some discussion about predestination but you feel it's just been included to appease any Christians who might be watching. You never discover how the aliens, the Bible and the little girl's predictions all fit together. The aliens could be working with God but it's all rather confusing and hard to understand. At the end of the day I didn't care, because it all seemed very silly.
There are several catastrophic events which look spectacular on screen, but the acting is overwrought and the film gloomy. Overall,it's a movie to avoid.