The only disaster not predicted here... was the movie itself.

Rating: 3/10 (10 March 2009)

Considering Nicolas Cage's recent filmography, expectations for Knowing are already pretty low, but there was hope in that Alex Proyas, a director who seems to have mastered a fascinating Gothic/sci-fi hybrid in previous cult classics such as Dark City and The Crow, could produce the goods. However, despite being well shot and often being unsettlingly atmospheric, the film could never hope to overcome such a messy and cliché screenplay.
When Caleb, well acted by young Chandler Canterbury, receives a list of numbers from a school time capsule, his father John (Nicolas Cage) who is conveniently an astrophysicist doesn't take long to figure out that the numbers correctly predicted every major disaster for the last fifty years. The plot thickens when John becomes obsessed with stopping three predictions yet to occur.
What was a moderately intriguing premise is heavily handled, using every possible cliché with soap opera dialogue to accompany it. Cage doesn't do much with the material either, basically just looking miserable to be there, but can you blame him? Australia's Rose Byrne is a cast highlight, but once again in undone by an overwrought script principally requiring her to shriek and sob for the children.
The disaster scenes themselves are conversely spectacular with dazzling special effects. These scenes are well orchestrated and become the highlight of a dull film, communicating the horror of the disasters effectively. There are also other little moments of genuine suspense that intrigue, but are ultimately bogged down by surrounding tripe capped with a conclusion that had audience's chuckling and eye rolling.