Knowing you knowing you...ah, hah... (Knowing (DVD))

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	Knowing (DVD)
Date:	18/09/09 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Solid, enjoyable, good CGI.

Disadvantages: Bit far fetched.

Knowing (2009)

I have been kind of waiting for this film to be out on Virgin Media; I like Nicholas Cage, and I like a good thriller, the director, Alex Proyas was responsible for 'I Robot' (a good film) and 'The Crow' (a brilliant film) so, all the signs were good for this, nearly two hour long offering.


~~The Plot~~

It is essentially a simple plot, though like most good thrillers it has some interesting 'diversions' along the way.

50 years ago in a local school, the pupils are invited to put drawings of what they think might be around in the future (50 years hence) into a time capsule to be buried in the school grounds. Pupils draw robots, jet packs etc.

One pupil, Lucinda (Lara Robinson) writes two sides of A4 of numbers instead of drawing, in fact she is still scribbling numbers when the teacher tells the class that time is up, numbers that she finishes writing, with her fingernails, in blood, in the inside of a school cupboard. This beginning to the film is decidedly creepy and makes for a great start.

We then move forward to when the time capsule is being opened, and today's pupils each get a sealed envelope from the kids of 50 years ago.

Caleb Koestler (played by Chandler Canterbury), son of recently widowed John (Nicholas Cage) gets Lucinda's envelope, full of numbers. That evening, after Caleb has gone to bed, John in his usual drunken sorrow looks at the numbers and sees 9/11 amongst them. John is an astrophysics professor and astronomer so quickly starts to make sense of the numbers which accurately state the dates of past disasters between 1959 and the present day. Showing this to a friend, John is not believed, especially as many numbers are not related to disasters.......so what are the numbers related to?

John sets out to make sense of the numbers and tracks down the old teacher from '59 and Lucinda's daughter Rose Whelan, played by Rose Byrne and Lucinda's granddaughter, played by the same young actress that played Lucinda.

That is enough of the plot or I will spoil it. All I will say is that it is pleasantly surprising in that it weaves science fact and science fiction into, what is essentially a thriller.


~~Acting, directing, cinematography~~

Let's face it, Nicholas Cage is quite a wooden actor, so playing a stuffy professor who thinks he is cool and has just lost his wife so is immobilised by grief is a good choice. He lumbers through the first part of the film, without much purpose and spends his time at college, looking after Caleb, or drinking, at home, alone, watching National geographic re runs. He plays this part well, and I kind of admire a man that makes no attempt to hide a receding hairline, when with his money, he could. In the later parts of the film when he becomes somewhat more motivated, we still get the gawkiness shining through and there are nice touches such as when he is pointing a gun at someone, his hand is shaking so much you do actually feel he is uncomfortable and scared.

His son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) is a great little actor is the same vein as the kid who was in 'Sixth sense'. The kid is trying to make sense of his mums death, his dad's over protectiveness and the 'whispers' in his own head, all whilst growing up and dealing with normal pre pubescent emotions.

Whilst there are other actors in the film, who all do their bit well, this is essentially about John and Caleb and there is something very moving about their father/son relationship that tugs at the heart strings on many occasions throughout the film....I have to say that there is one point (I won't say when) where I had a significant 'lump in throat' moment.

The director is very classy in my opinion. I loved the way (and I am not being arty farty) he uses light, gloomy where it needs to be and brilliance to illustrate other scenes. I also loved the way he 'speeds' up the pace of the film from the beginning to the end. It really works well and we get the sense of urgency that he conveys from the mid point on.

There is some tension, but not edge of seat tension, yet that seems okay, seems to fit.

There are some fantastic bits of CGI that involve explosions, crashes and the impending sense that disaster is always just around the corner, especially when interwoven with everyday chores such as dropping the kids off at school.

There are some bits that are not quite right such as following tyre tracks into a forest yet none of the bushes are knocked down, but you know what, it does not seem to matter.

The musical score/directing by Marco Beltrami fits very well and I like the way he uses classical music to convey both calm and tension throughout.


~~I liked~~

I liked the plotline, especially as I had no idea, prior to watching the film about the overriding story, I just thought it was a thriller about numbers; the 2nd part of the film was a pleasant surprise to me.

I loved the CGI, which I cannot spoil by telling you what and when happens, but believe me, there is spectacular effects.

The relationship between John and Caleb was endearing and I dunno if it is being a dad myself, but I really 'got it'.

I liked the music, liked the acting, liked the cinematography, in fact I liked the film period, there was very little I did not like. Okay, the plot left some questions and many watchers can end up say 'as if' but it really does not matter, it is a good, solid, watchable film, no classic or cult film, but good enough to spend £4 on any day.

If I am being super critical, then the ending drags on a bit and could have ended maybe 5 minutes earlier than it did, you'll see what I mean, no biggie though.

It is good to see Cage actually acting 'normally' instead of his Elvis clones in different guises in most of his recent films.

I kind of wish I had seen it on big screen now and would certainly advise this.

Summary: Knowing.