Tries it's best, but poor Development and Acting

Rating: 5/10 (7 September 2009)

"Knowing" starts out interestingly for about the first 25 min of it's runtime or so, and has some finale fireworks as a big spectacle. Too bad the meat of the movie is more or less vapid. The story doesn't dig deep enough - it's under-developed and ultimately superficial. Applying logic to a fantasy/apocalyptic movie is sort of a contradiction in terms, but the movie needs some heavy thought and editing obviously. For instance (SPOILERS) a completely ludicrous scene of Cage running toward a newly crashed airliner staring at burning people and exploding engines while not saying a word is beyond far-fetched. Or how about the cob-webbed cliché of characters deciding to go to dark spooky places during night-time...why?...Just because. And What really did it for me was the use of "EE", as if those who communicate in the future must be able to text on their blackberry's and iphones. This movie has some interesting premises, but needs better script and dialog as well as acting. I liked Rose Byrne in WickerPark, but she's pretty poor in this movie - and that seems more on the director and script than she herself. Nicholas Cage is pretty much going through the motions while both child-actors seem to be reading from a script-board off-camera. The finale scenes showed some interesting imagery and creativity - not enough to save the ridiculous and dullness that preceded it. Maybe worth a rental for the effort. Nice try....