Knowing
Knowing
Summit Entertainment
Starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne
Directed by Alex Proyas
I once though Cuba Gooding, Jr. was the worst actor to ever win an Academy Award. Then I saw “Knowing”. The performance, or lack there of, that Nicolas Cage gives in this movie makes Gooding, Jr. look like Laurence Olivier. The movie itself is not a good one, and Cage’s reading of the part (I refuse to say acting, as I saw none done by him) does it no favors. I have never cared less for a main character in a film, maybe that’s because he never gave me a character to care about. I actually felt insulted.
And the whole blame can’t befall on Cage. I can’t understand how director Alex Proyas got so little from his leading man. Not only did he get nothing from Cage, but Rose Byrne, who is wonderful in the FX network’s “Damages”, gives the bare minimum as well. At least Byrne gives us some sense of emotion, especially when she and Cage’s characters first meet. But that’s about it. Was the director just ringing it in as well? Were there no monitors on set for him to see that awfulness that was being put to celluloid? I know Proyas has talent. I know he is able to put a story onto the screen and secure performances. He has proven that in films such as “The Crow”and “Dark City”. But here, he misses the mark by a large margin.
The story in itself had potential, but the pacing of the movie is yet another part of its downfall. When Cage’s son gets a copy of a document written by a troubled student 50 years ago, Cage quickly deciphers the numerical code within. And when I mean quickly, I mean he seems to have it all figured out within one night, or what seems about less than 2 minutes of screen time. Well, in viewing the 1st numbers so conveniently surrounded by a ring left from Cage’s whiskey glass, the viewer can figure out the 1st set of numbers immediately. In all honesty I have no idea how long the whole scene took – this was one of the rare instances I wasn’t looking at the DVD clock to see how long was left of this awfulness. He then seems to unravel the mystery (which there is little of as the movie is so predictable) just as quickly. Yet as fast as things are discovered, you would think the movie would be shorter, but no, I had to suffer for to long hours of insufferable exposition and dialogue. And forgive me for possibly ruining the ending, or thank me I just saved you 2 hours from sitting through it, is a lame throw back to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” just does not seem to fit.
As I write this, I try to think of anything good to say about “Knowing” and I can’t find one thing. The action sequences are a bore. The CG is terrible, and pulls you out of any possible reality it may be trying to place you. And you already know what I think of the “acting” and directing. Do yourself a favor – stay far away from this movie.
As far as the DVD Extras, I couldn’t tell you – I couldn’t get this thing out of my DVD player quick enough to check any of them out.
