Film Reviews

Knowing

• Rating:
• Director: Alex Proyas
• Starring: Nicolas Cage
• Details: US/Australia / 130mins (15A).

50 years ago a little girl is asked to draw a picture of what she thinks the future will look like for a time capsule, which is to be buried outside the school. The girl, troubled by whispering voices that no one else hears, scribbles down number after random number. The teacher thinks nothing of it and slips it into the capsule. 50 years later, the capsule is opened and young Caleb (Canterbury), beset by the same whispers as the girl, brings it home to his father, astrophysicist John (Cage). John spots a sequence in these numbers - they are actually dates and coordinates of tragedies, plus the exact the number of people who died (9/11, New Orleans, the tsunami, Lockerbie, etc). What does the last set of numbers on the list predict? Do the X-Factor Rhydian look-alikes hiding in the woods handing out black pebbles have the answer?

The nifty action sequences - the plane crash, the subway collision - fails to save this humdrum thriller as bad dialogue and so-so acting damn it long before an interesting climax. Cage's ability to pick a good role has dipped in the last ten years and although Knowing can be lumped into the same category (bad) of Next, Bangkok Dangerous, The Wicker Man, Ghost Rider etc, he isn't helped by some pretty basic lines that even actors at the top of their game would fail to deliver without looking silly.

Review by Gavin Burke