Can Cage be Fired Yet?

Rating: 1/10 (31 July 2009)

Is it fair to say that a movie must utilize the plot devices it presents to its audience in a full circle? If I show you lemons, water and sugar and tell you I am making a drink, is it fair for you to assume I am making lemonade? Would you not be shocked if you drank my concoction and instead of tasting sweet and tarty lemonade you were instead met with Dr. Pepper? I found myself thinking about this while watching 'Knowing'. The film is an insult to standard human intelligence and that is an understatement. I recall seeing the trailer and thinking, 'this is a movie I will not be seeing.' But I found myself watching it just a few hours ago.
Nicholas Cage is only capable of playing Nicholas Cage. There is no difference between his character in this film and his performance in, 'The Rock' or 'Con Air'. This was my first problem with the film and a primary issue which I kept coming back to. There is nothing wrong with an actor who adds his own personal touch to a character but Cage is no Brando or Nicholson. He just thunders through scenes with bad hair and an even worse attitude. Cage spends most of the film rushing through crowds and barking orders. He seems to always be in the right place at the right time. He is confused, but at the same time he knows where he is going. I want to feel for the protagonist but I cannot feel a thing for this person because he is Nicholas Cage.
Another issue is one that has plagued the psychological thriller for years. The use of a creepy kid as a vehicle for plot. This film has not one but three! To be fair, the first creepy kid is necessary for the plot. But they make Cage's son and his Love Interest's daughter creepy as well. There is some kind of statement to be made about the purity of the child's soul in this film but I cannot bring myself to acknowledge that there can be such a concrete idea in all of the muck and mire.
Coming back to my Lemonade analogy, I cannot help but feel that this film has difficulty deciding what it actually is about. There is just too much going on. There are aliens, precognitions and disasters. This is all mashed together in an ugly cooking pot and then heartily seasoned with an unhealthy amount of apocalypse. The end result is aggravating and tiring. I was lead to believe one thing up until the very end and then it turned out to be something completely different. I have not problem with a twist but this was ridiculous. Also, the Christian undertones really left a sour taste in my mouth.
I would also like to take this time and address the awful dialog. I am not one to be nitpicky about it but I must be brought up. There is a scene where Cage is talking with his sister. She explains that Cage's dead wife had one wish and that wish was that her son would have a lasting relationship with Cage's estranged father. WHY???!!!???!?!?!?! When you mix that with the vomit inducing ending dialog between Cage and Son and Cage and Father it is enough to make suicide sound appealing.
Hollywood has become a singularly offensive bile inducing factory bent on the exploitation of tired ideas. This movie is no exception- it is in fact a poster child for this awful movement. 'Knowing' is a mish mash of overused ideas and in the end it is just outright bad. If you want twists and turns with a rewarding twist just rent a Hitchcock movie or 'The Usual Suspects'. This is film is simply sick and feeble. If it were a barn yard animal I would hope it would be taken out, behind the barn, and put out of its misery.
I submit a movement be started whose soul purpose is removing Nicholas Cage from movies forever. He is like the socially awkward son of a great business owner whose allowed to continue working at one of his dad's stores even though he constantly makes mistakes and is detrimental to any form of progress.