Movie Review - Knowing

Wow.  That about sums up this movie.  Another mind twisting film from the mind of
Alex Proyas.  The movie is Knowing starting Nicholas Cage.  IMDB - Post

The other film that springs to mind when talking of Alex Proyas is Dark City.  Taking a peek at his resume show a list of credits for other films that I love.  This list includes, I, Robot, The Crow, Dark City and now Knowing.  His films have a way of being dark but not being overly intense.  This film is no exception in that it is creepy and dark, very suspenseful but not too intense.

The movie stars Nicholas Cage as John Koestler.  I know many people who do not like Nick Cage because he tends to play the same character in every movie.  I can understand that point of view, however I feel this role is a bit different for him.  This movie is not your typical action movie that Nick Cage is know for.  John is a astrophysicist at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT for short.  He is the father of Caleb Koestler our other lead role in the film.  While there are moments where you get the somewhat wooden performance that is Nicholas Cage he is very serious and portrays the brooding and thoughtful character very well. 

I only wish that he would have been more open with his son in this film.  He keeps many things from his son which perhaps in the end is a good thing.  I would like to think in his shoes spoken more with my son about what was actually going on. 

Speaking of sons Chandler Canterbury who played Caleb was actually quite good.  It is hard with child actors, you never quite know if they are going to be good or not.  I have recently watched a few films with horrible child actors, this film is not one of them.  Chandler is quite convincing in his role.  Caleb is very intelligent and trying to make a deeper connection with his father now that his mother is gone.  Chandler's acting all seems very realistic and natural which adds credibility to the role.

There are many other great actors and actresses in this film.  Everyone does a great job with the roles they are portraying.  Another small but important part in the film is John's father who is a preacher.  He has very few lines but delivers them exceptionally.  Right to the heart of his point without using too many words.

The special effects in this film are superb.  There are several big scenes in the film with very prominent special effects.  The special effects are very cool to watch, and are totally believable.  In some scenes it is a bit much, especially where you are watching people get burned alive.  It is still shot in such a way not to over dramatize things but to really show you what is going on.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone who likes mysterious films.  Likewise if you are a fan of suspense films you might enjoy this one as well.  While there is a few good action scenes I do not think this would keep the hard core action movie fans interested throughout the entire movie.

I rate this film to be four and a half out of five smiley Mike heads.  If the relationship between the father and son had been a bit stronger I would have given it five smiley Mike heads.