Knowing

Nicolas Cage's latest outing in futuristic thriller Knowing proves that he still has the eminence to rake in the big money...as long as he cuts his hair. With an estimated budget of $50 million, the film earned threefold at the box office, earning twice that of Cage’s previous sci-fi film “Next” and crushing the lackluster “Bangkok Dangerous”, which earned less than its production budget.[1][2] In both these films, Cage lets his long locks do the talking, but the only thing they tell us is that Nicolas Cage is not just committing a crime of fashion.

As far as his performance goes, well, it is hard to judge a man’s acting ability when the script tells him to hit a tree with a baseball bat and scream at aliens. He does his best to keep it together, and when it comes to freaking out and panicking, Nicolas Cage knows his stuff. Cage plays John Koestler, a professor at MIT who discovers a pattern in a series of numbers that predict world disasters. He convinces us to feel the overwhelming anxiety that comes with knowing when the world is going to end, but the frantic behavior and incessant harassment towards complete strangers makes us doubt his character’s sanity. Telling a woman you just met that her dead mother predicted the impending apocalypse is a lot to swallow, but Koestler approaches the situation as if it is a daily occurrence. Cage talks loud, chases blonde supermen into the woods, and attacks trees with baseball bats. Apparently no one told him that “Wicker Man” was done filming.

But the absurdity of Koestler’s irrational behavior cannot be put on Cage, for it is the script that has him doing such ridiculous things. In the writers’ defense, the other characters seem normal enough. The female lead, Diana Wayland, is played by Rose Byrne, who gives a surprisingly normal performance. She chooses to leave behind the weirdness she often brings to characters, and play a generic woman scared for her child’s life. The script is believable, but typical, as no one heeds the warnings that Koestler delivers. What? The FBI doesn’t take orders from anonymous men in phone booths?

Nevertheless, everyone eventually becomes aware of the impending disaster, and it’s at this point that the audience knows what will happen. This leaves us waiting for the world to end, and all the fire and explosions that one can handle. Though there are very few action sequences, it is enough to keep the viewer amused until the final explosive event, which is satisfying enough to compete with any Michael Bay film.

This is a thriller, after all, which makes it odd that the entire buildup leads to an effects-driven climax. Regardless, the film does have its thrills and chills, if one could call them that. The film has a creepy vibe to it, such as when the “whisperers” appear every so often with their psychotic stares, but after a few visits their scares become routine. The film leaves us with questions, but I’m not sure they are the questions that the filmmakers want to be asked. For instance, what is with the black pebbles? Their purpose is never revealed. Such a thing will only anger viewers and force them to search for the “true meaning” on online message boards. Or how come Caleb Koestler has a hearing aid? At first you think it helps him hear the “whisperers”, but then Abby Wayland hears them too. Was it so that Caleb and his father can have that cool sign thing together? Maybe it’ll catch on.

Overall, the film is viewable. It’ll most likely keep you entertained for a couple of hours, and when it comes down to it, that’s all we really want. We just want to escape reality, but the thing is, this reality is a lot scarier than our own. It’s gripping enough to keep us watching and keep us guessing, but only for so long. You want to know what happens, but it gets to the point in the film where you just want it to end so you can get on with your own apocalypse-free life.


[1] http://knowing-trailer.blogspot.com/2008/12/nicolas-cage-knowing-movie-trailer.html
[2] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/