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Bookmark this pageKnowing (2009)
Director: Alex Proyas
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
Time Out London Issue 2015, Apr 2-8 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Robert Head said...
- Posted on Apr 15 2009 15:49 Sorry, but it seems all the reviewers who've posted so far appear to be functionally illiterate. I'll spare such incomprehensible nonsense babble and tell it like it is. It's a classic tale of 'man loses wife and starts to doubt his religious beliefs whilst simultaneously having to identify with his seemingly nihilistic scientific beliefs'. Just to cloud the issue, his sister, mother and father are all evangelical Christians who test his scientific mettle at every instance. The movie is a disappointment because it is too fast-paced, and each long, drawn-out conclusion turns out to be utterly disappointing. The relevance of the document to the final outcome is minimal and it seems no one of the important characters at MIT had any valid scientific opinion on the matter. Instead of culminating in a fierce difference of opinions between the son and his pastor father, I was met with a shoddy ending involving his giving up of all he held to be rational and some far-fetched, fantastical outcome involving the two children. Cage's character is the epitomy of what every non-religious person can become when confronted with an overwhelming, seemingly inexplicable scenario - thus relapsing into a state of religious, invertebrate stupor. Only, it's predictable and thoroughly disappointing. See the film, but don't expect much of it.
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- Dj campbell said...
- Posted on Apr 15 2009 15:16 This is a great film with everything you want in a film -horror,action,fit women(the daughter of the girl at the begining) and leaves you thinking after the film about the future. I was so freaked out in parts and you should definetly go and see this
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- Destiny said...
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Posted on Apr 15 2009 12:53
this was rediculous. it was awesome... the first hour. as soon as aliens came into the picture, the movie was shot...
and i mean... the pastor is all "this isnt the end for us"
youre a pastor! the bible says that jesus will come back and take his bride with him! and then reign on earth for 1000 years! not : hey, Gods just gunna blow us all up and take your kid, but its okay. i mean, the aliens? fine. but do some research before you drag the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE into it! the universe that HE created by the work of His hands....
but yeah... besides my God-rant... the movie was really good until the aliens came in. i mean, the plot was awesome but it just seems like they said "hmm... this is going quite well, now how should we end it?" (cricket sounds)
producer: "aliens? that always makes sense," But no... deff not. - Report as inappropriate
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- ambz said...
- Posted on Apr 15 2009 12:52 Im so sorry but i dont think a lot of you understand what a review is, it is not telling the whole story and ruining it for those of us who have not yet seen it instead it is instead just giving your opnion to wiether you liked the film or not and if you would recomend it to others!
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- pat kenny said...
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 18:30
oh hell! curses on the lot of - the whingers, haters & those who liked it.....you've all, between you, TOLD ME EVERYTHING ABOUT IT !!!!!
THE PLOT, THE ACTING, THE CHARACTERS, AND, WORST OF ALL, THE BLOODY ENDING !!!???!!!
So, what's left for me now; why should I drive the 35 mins to town to see it???
I was SO looking forward to an evening at the movies (rarely now)....and, you've all blown it for me.
You don't tell someone the end of the book they are buying....reviewers don't give it all away....so WHY SHOULD Y O U ????????
Shame on the lot of you. - Report as inappropriate
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- pat kenny said...
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 18:24
Oh heck! damn you lot - all of you, whingers, haters & likers alike - you've all, between the lot of you - TOLD ME, EXPLICITLY, EXACTLY W H A T H A P P E N S
IN THE FIM, particularly THE ENDING !!!!!
So, what's the bloody point of me actually going to SEE IT ?????? I go to a film to be, amongst other things....surprised, moved, amazed, sometimes under-amazed, entertained, etc.......but, like with reading a book , I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING !!!!!!!!
So, the aliens aren't, they're angels, the message is really all about faith, buildings get consumed by fire, and the ending is a cliffhanger but with a hopeful message....SO WHY DO I NEED TO SEE IT, NOW?
I was REALLY looking forward to getting out, driving the 35 minutes to my nearest town, having a meal AND seeing a film which would be an ENTERTAINMENT for me - curses on you all, dammit!!! Angry? You betcha! - Report as inappropriate
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- Emz said...
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 16:13
Birlliant film u definitly need 2 go 2 the cinema 2 see it, special effects are amazing!!! I went 2 see it with 4 friends who all thorght it was great aswell, the bit where the train crashes actually made 1 of my friends cry! Absolutly amazing special effects and the sounds they put with them makes them life like and horrifing.
The "whisper people" make u jump abit, and i liked the ending, keeps ur mind open. Definitly will be buying it when it comes out on dvd! - Report as inappropriate
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- Ezekial said...
- Posted on Apr 14 2009 06:36 Makes you wonder about what we can expect to happen December 22, 2012....doesn't it?! It was not a bad movie. I wouldn't say it was great, but it wasn't bad either. At times it was slow and could pick up the pace a bit, but all in all, it was quite suspenseful. Interpretations of the ending is up for the grabs. It leaves it up to the viewer and their faith or belief to accept what they thought it meant. Aliens or Angels...it's up to you. Maybe what we have chosen to call angels and what we think of God is not all clear. Maybe God and angels are aliens, or superior like beings, that are the creators of the universe. Who knows? Who is to say what is right or wrong...it's all about faith and what one choses to believe. I wonder how many of these type of movies will start popping up as we come closer to 12/22/12.
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- Danielle said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 23:05 amazing movie. saw it today. the alien guys to start with scared me because i thought they were like .. zombies or something xD but it was an amazing film. and the end of it is very relistic and could happen in some respects
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- Danielle said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 23:05 amazing movie. saw it today. the alien guys to start with scared me because i thought they were like .. zombies or something xD but it was an amazing film. and the end of it is very relistic and could happen in some respects
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- Yasmin said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 17:14 I just went and seen it, i really enjoy'ed the graphics Nic Cage had the most exadurated facial expresions out of everyone in the whole movie as in all his others, The little boy may need to practice on his crying but well done. It was beautiful at the end to see these alian like spirit beings grow wings as they acended, The girl from the 50's was really Scary, i thought the Tree of LIfe was beautiful :-) had me emotional to some degree thru out the movie, dunno about the part with the bunnies but was cute though, The whole thought about the Sun, Earth, Solar System thing kinda REALLY freeked me out and makes me wonder now what will ever happen in the future, The end bit had me on the edge of my seat when all the buildings where being consumed by the impact of heat and flames and then the zoom out was really scary to imagin if that really was happening!!! poor animals with the dream the boy or Nicolas had, , i may be a bad judge but i liked it some craphics with the train could have been a bit better and Nic needs to stop over exadorating and act more natural lol thumbs up for me !!!, Good movie otherwise, .
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- Ivan said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 16:18 great movie. It was kind of freaky. The girl in the beginning geez., and those angels that we didnt know about appearing randomly freaky. Prepare to be freaked out at parts. but overall great movie.
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- Dave said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 15:12 The start of the movie made it out to a brilliant piece of work, but about the point when it turned into a relious/weird theme it lost its flare. it was really 2 totally different movies put into 1 and it didn't work for me. it went from edge of seat to falling asleep at the end
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- Marie said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 02:36 Well the beginning of it was pretty good. May I add GREAT graphics. But when it got the the end I just lost ALL interest in the movie. It is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I disliked it a lot. A group of friends and my husband all agree with me. It is a waist of money and time......
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- Angus Smith said...
- Posted on Apr 13 2009 00:24 This was the worst movie ever and its a total waste of time
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Cast & crew
Director: Alex Proyas
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Lara Robinson, Ben Mendelsohn, D.G. Maloney, Nadia Townsend full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 121 mins
UK Release: Mar 25 2009
US Release: Mar 20 2009
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