Knowing (2009)

Director:

Alex Proyas

Writers (WGA):

Ryne Douglas Pearson (screenplay) and
Juliet Snowden (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 March 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Knowing is Everything...

Plot:

A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Plot Keywords:

Number | School | Disaster | Time Capsule | Student

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Nicolas Cage	...	Professor Jonathan 'John' Koestler
Chandler Canterbury	...	Caleb Koestler
Rose Byrne	...	Diana Wayland
Lara Robinson	...	Abby Wayland / Lucinda Embry
D.G. Maloney	...	The Stranger
Nadia Townsend	...	Grace Koestler
Alan Hopgood	...	Reverend Koestler
Adrienne Pickering	...	Allison Koestler
Joshua Long	...	Younger Caleb
Danielle Carter	...	Miss Taylor (1959)
Alethea McGrath	...	Miss Taylor (2009)
David Lennie	...	Principal Clark (1959)
Tamara Donnellan	...	Lucinda's Mother
Travis Waite	...	Lucinda's Father
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Professor Phil Beckman

Also Known As:

Know1ng (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | UK | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45115) | Ireland:15A | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Czech Republic:12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-13 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:12 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:12 | Peru:14 | Japan:G | Brazil:12 | South Africa:13V | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Camberwell High School, Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Summit Entertainment

Trivia:

The text of the time capsule plaque reads, "We, the 3rd grade class of William Dawes Elementary School, in the year of 1959 A.D., hereby commit our visions of the future as a token of hope and friendship toward our successors, the class of 2009 A.D."

Goofs:

Continuity: Midway through the movie, as the sheet of paper with the numbers on it sits on a desk, there is a small wear tear at the bottom fold/crease. Later shots of the same sheet of paper show no tear at that crease.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Miss Taylor: Everyone inside now!

Movie Connections:

References "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Beethoven Symphony No 7 in A Major, Op 92 (1811-12) 2nd Movement: Allegretto

Shocking

When I first heard about this, I dismissed it as another special effects oriented piece of Hollywood junk, but when I heard that it came from Alex Proyas, the skilled Sci-fi director behind The Crow and Dark City I gave it a shot. Well It's certainly not junk. Up until the ending, Knowing is a well paced, fairly emotional and very startling picture.

The premise is based around one of the greatest scientific controversies, whether the universe is random, or if things happen for a reason. Nicholas Cage is John Koestler, an astrophysisist, a widower and a highly depressed man. On the day of his son's graduation, the school digs up a time capsule buried fifty years ago. Inside are dozens of envelopes containing student's illustrations of what the future would look like. John's son brings home one of the envelopes, but instead of a drawing inside, there is a page full of random numbers. That night John discovers a sequence in the numbers, which reveals a deadly fact. Something with the potential to the whole planet.

From the look of things, It feels like Alex Proyas is desperate to make the biggest natural disaster film of all time. It is certainly one of the most complex. The elaborate plot does not harm the flow of the film too much until the concluding twenty minutes which are visually stunning but ridiculous and quite irrelevant to everything that proceeded it. Part of the ending is a direct rip-off of Close Encounters of The Third Kind.

One other thing worth noting about the film, is the score. With the exception of Chistopher Nolan's two Batman movies, I can't say I've seen a lot of Summer blockbusters which contain music that you actually become aware of. Usually it is taken for granted, going in one ear and out the other, but not in Knowing.

The film is absurd yes, but I didn't feel like my intelligence was insulted terribly, so I'd recommend it if it's your kind of thing.