Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL
Sorry for the slight bump, but like
MeanJoePhaser, I too decided to see this at my local second-run cheapie theatre.
It was... interesting. I can certainly understand why it's been so polarizing. I liked the general mood and atmosphere, as I usually do with Proyas' films, and the story was alright -- a few moments were actually kind of thought-provoking, and some were almost touching, but at times, it seemed to get bogged down in all its seriousness, which, ironically enough, probably served to make the whole thing seem a bit sillier.
Overall, though, I found it surprisingly not too bad. Nic Cage's character reminded me a bit too much of Mel Gibson's in
Signs, going through almost the exact same arc (recently widowed, not having any faith, and then slowly recovering it by the end, etc.), but I'll let it slide. As I mentioned upthread, I was a bit hesitant about this film when some commented on the religious aspects that are present, but thankfully they're fairly unspecified and allegorical. True, Cage's character seems to find some kind of faith at the end, but it struck me more as accepting that there are things beyond our limits of understanding -- that there are always possibilities. I was afraid it might be a "Oh God, my saviour, I'm sorry for doubting thee" sort of thing, but fortunately it's nothing like that -- IMO, it was more about opening your mind and finding peace with yourself and the universe.
Having said that, some of the religious imagery (like the blatant Adam and Eve symbolism that was laid on pretty thick in the final scene) was a bit much. I think it could've been toned down just a tad, but that's me.
The plane crash and the subway accident -- wow. I thought they were effectively horrific. Yeah, consciously you know it's largely CGI, but it didn't seem too obvious.
I'm kind of glad that they film didn't cop out on the whole prophecy thing, including the prediction of her mother that Rose Byrne's character would die on the specified day -- along with everyone else, I guess!
Yeah, I guess I like an apocalyptic ending every now and then... but there's still some hope for the human race on this new world. One would presume that the presence of multiple ships would indicate that there were more survivors than just Caleb and Abby -- otherwise, that's gonna be one small gene pool.
On that topic, the aliens' ultimate plan does kind of require you to create some of your own answers. As has been mentioned in the thread, one wonders why they went to all the trouble with the prophetic numbers all the way back in the fifties, but maybe this whole telepathy thing isn't quite an exact science for them. Perhaps it was for the benefit of Cage's character, so he would come to believe in something extraordinary, and by extension have enough faith to let Caleb go at the end, to give them both a sense of hope and closure. One also might wonder why they transmitted these coordinates for people to show up to if they could just abduct the kids -- which they kind of did, from the gas station. Maybe they sensed that the kids wanted to go there, but were being prevented by Diane, so they intervened? I don't know. Like I said, you may need to fill in some of the blanks yourself, but not every film has to provide perfect explanations for all its mysteries.
This film isn't going to satisfy everyone -- I certainly don't think it's perfect, but I don't regret paying $3 to see it.
At any rate, I'd say it's at least worth a rental.
