Knowing

Knowing casts Nicolas Cage as John Koestler, a science professor who comes to believe that the end of the world was predicted by a little girl exactly 50 years earlier – with the film detailing John’s efforts to convince others of the apparent prophecy. It becomes clear early on that, at a running time of just over two hours, Knowing is a good half hour longer than it has any right to be, as large swaths of the narrative are devoted to scenes and sequences of a decidedly less-than-engrossing nature – with the ongoing emphasis on the aforementioned little girl’s background and family history certainly ranking high on the movie’s list of uninteresting elements. The erratic pace ensures that many of the film’s action sequences don’t fare quite as well as one might’ve hoped, although it’s admittedly difficult to deny the effectiveness and impact of a few key interludes (eg John figures out the code indicating the world’s end, John witnesses a fairly epic plane crash, etc). (This is despite Proyas’ overuse of aggressively shoddy computer-generated special effects.) There’s little doubt, too, that Knowing benefits heavily from the efforts of its star, as Cage delivers a typically engaging performance that effectively anchors the progressively ludicrous storyline (as much as such a storyline can be anchored, of course). The impressively grim finale ensures that Knowing ultimately ends on a decidedly memorable note, and yet it’s clear that the film doesn’t entirely deliver on its exceedingly promising setup – which is a shame, really, given the potential afforded by the seemingly foolproof premise.

**1/2 out of ****