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Knowing (2009)

Director: Alex Proyas

Time Out rating

Average user rating

201 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Alex Proyas’s derivative sci-fi movie is a close encounter of the nerd kind, mixing Spielbergian child-like wonder, disaster movie spectacle and the cod-religious silliness of M Night Shyamalan’s ‘Signs’. The premise is compelling, but the execution is over-cooked.

A string of numbers scribbled by an obsessive schoolgirl back in 1959 is given to the son of MIT astrophysicist Nicolas Cage, when a time capsule buried fifty years before is disinterred. Although Cage’s father is a pastor, since the death of his wife he has believed that life is just a random string of accidents. Then he finds patterns in the numbers that seem to correspond to the dates of disasters, and starts to wonder if our fates really are predetermined.

Unfortunately, consideration of these weighty issues soon gives way to what feels like an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’ on steroids. There is hard scientific talk about unusual solar flare activity, and intimations of a global ecological disaster. But then the pale-faced ‘Whispering People’ start handing out smooth black stones, and rationality gives way to portentous religious talk about God’s prophet Ezekiel. By the time single mother Rose Byrne, daughter of the now-dead 50s schoolgirl, takes Cage and his young son to the crazy lady’s abandoned mobile home in the woods, it’s easy to predict where this is headed.

The apocalyptic images are impressive, but what do they all add up to? You may end up asking yourself, in the spirit of Erich Von Däniken, ‘Was God An Astronaut?”

Author: Nigel Floyd 2009-03-25 10:21:47

Time Out London Issue 2015, Apr 2-8 2009

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User reviews of this film

google said...

Posted on Apr 19 2009 22:28 THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN

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Tedy Kanjirathinkal said...

Posted on Apr 19 2009 11:28 Has some stereotypical stuff in, but intriguing at certain places. The story told in its own pace, could bore, unless if smitten by the concept.

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keldoth said...

Posted on Apr 18 2009 23:50 Wow im a tall 14 yr old and one piece of advice when ur watching it....dont watch it unless you have no fear im still shaking. It is a v.gd film though and it had me gripped till the end where it got abit silly but still best scary film ive seen in years.

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kc said...

Posted on Apr 18 2009 17:07 Good film,brilliant effects,dont know what to think of the ending tho,but i would still see it again.

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Harry said...

Posted on Apr 18 2009 14:50 This is one of the best films I have seen for a long time. It has depth and some spirituality unlike the usual transparent titillating violence that seems to prevail.
It poses many questions and is not necessarily a 'religious' film. It only seems to be religious to those people who seem think there nothing in life other than what you see.
I though the acting was terrific and the story line excellent. I would certainly recommend it. It is not for you if you prefer play station game like films.
Well done Nicholas Cage.

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Ray Newton said...

Posted on Apr 18 2009 09:06 The worst film I have ever seen. I don't know how Nic Cage would put his name to such dribble .

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Alessandro M Sassoon said...

Posted on Apr 18 2009 02:33 What could have been an interesting movie about the power of mathematical predictions became what I have concluded to be propaganda from the evangelical lobby in Hollywood. The characters at MIT are potrayed as morons all while Cage gives his 'concerned look' for over half the film. The daughter of Lucinda is a non-character and Abby is there only to complete the picture of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden. The alien idea could have actually worked, had it not been in the blatant, tasteless religious context (they even spawned wings in the end). The object of this movie was to strip the scientific explanation for things of credibility while maintaining that "science" and theology can co-exist. The film also seemed to be a drama-horror-thriller-action-suspense movie with sweet special effects as to invigorate young audiences into thinking it's hella-awesome and that "it makes total sense! the holy bible is proved by Nicolas Cage's MIT math skillzzz and there is higher power (which for some reason sits idly while the earth burns and saves just 2 kids who will populate a new world [talk about a really small gene pool])

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lachy said...

Posted on Apr 17 2009 12:04 The worst movie I've ever seen. An absolute joke. Predictable, boring, and possibly the end of Nick Cage's career. I laughed out loud when Nick fell to his knees as he watched the space-craft rise into the distance in a most ham-fisted manner. Drawn out, far-fetched, boring. Awful. I beg you, don't see this film.

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Julia said...

Posted on Apr 17 2009 11:00 Although I think that Nicholas Cage is an exceptionally talented actor, this movie was awful. No, wait, what I meant to say was that the ENDING was awful. The movie itself was very entertaining and kept you on the edge of your seat. However, the aliens at the end were a joke. The movie made you think that it would end in some psychological and intelligent conclusion, whereas the actual ending completely destroyed the movie.
With a different ending, this movie could have been one of the greatest releases in 2009.
If you enjoy disappointment, I would recommend this movie.

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Tyler said...

Posted on Apr 17 2009 05:37 This is the worst movie in the history in the world. The people who made it should be punished. I actually laughed when abbys mom died. The beginning was godd but the rest was horrible Dont wast your money, i think i got to go see an other movie to get this one out of my head.

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kevin schuman said...

Posted on Apr 17 2009 00:00 It seemed to me that the aliens or angels or whatever they were suppose to be could of just as easily come down right at the end of the movie, scooped up a couple of kids and been on their merry way without all the portentious and prophetic and pathetic events that led up to the end of the movie which was, you guessed it, the end of the world. It wasn't knowing, it was the end of knowing, and now that i know who cares! I don't. The only thing i care about, really, is the 17 bucks i wasted on this piece of horse pooh. And speaking of peace: "Can't we all just get along?", but i guess it doesn't matter if we don't because we're not going to destroy ourselves, a big solar flare is going to destroy us, so we might as well go on killing and exploiting and enslaving as much as we like. That's the message I get from this dumb irresponsible Nickolas Cage "masterpiece". Oh there I go with that word peace again. I better stop.

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Tom said...

Posted on Apr 16 2009 22:06 If you are a fan of Nicholas Cage's perpetual psychologically pained look then you will enjoy this. Otherwise I'd give it a miss. Clichéd, full of dodgy and clumsy quasi-religious imagery, and feels at times like the script and plot were made up as the film went along. A couple of starts for being unintentionally humorous at times.

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amy said...

Posted on Apr 16 2009 13:47 Went to see this movie yesterday and omg i dont know how people can say this is a crap movie or whatever and how you can say it does not make sense is beyond me seeing as it makes perfect sense. What excatlly is it in the movie that does not make sense or is not similiar to the reality we live in!? Do we not have planets, do we not have the sun, why excatlly is it not possible for what happened in the film to happen in real life! The only part that you are left to decide for your selve and is left to your religious beliefs is the aliens or angels whichever you may believe them to be, it is up to the person to decide wiether or not if they believe in spirtiual beings in the world greater than us, what i liked particilaurlly is the ending the ending makes perfect sense it has a religious meaning and relates to adam and eve in the garden of eden, as adan and eve did the boy and girl are left to create a new life. and dont hurl insults at the people who actually liked this film, everyone has their own taste in films so you cant expect everyone to have the opnion of the film being crap!

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amy said...

Posted on Apr 16 2009 13:47 Went to see this movie yesterday and omg i dont know how people can say this is a crap movie or whatever and how you can say it does not make sense is beyond me seeing as it makes perfect sense. What excatlly is it in the movie that does not make sense or is not similiar to the reality we live in!? Do we not have planets, do we not have the sun, why excatlly is it not possible for what happened in the film to happen in real life! The only part that you are left to decide for your selve and is left to your religious beliefs is the aliens or angels whichever you may believe them to be, it is up to the person to decide wiether or not if they believe in spirtiual beings in the world greater than us, what i liked particilaurlly is the ending the ending makes perfect sense it has a religious meaning and relates to adam and eve in the garden of eden, as adan and eve did the boy and girl are left to create a new life. and dont hurl insults at the people who actually liked this film, everyone has their own taste in films so you cant expect everyone to have the opnion of the film being crap!

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chris said...

Posted on Apr 16 2009 10:21 I was very disapointed last night went to get 2 tickets last night for knowing it was advertised on site at 21.25 but had already started at 20.45 did anyone else experince this mistake

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