Crappy Nic Cage Movies that Aren't Actually Crappy #1: "Knowing"

This is the last of the “critically hated movies that are actually awesome” that I’m going to write about, and the first in my next trilogy of articles: Crappy Nic Cage Movies that Aren’t Actually Crappy (which will itself lead into a duo of articles about Martin Scorsese movies).

Something I'm doing a bit differently with most of these articles (especially these three) is that I am looking at old reviews, both from my own site and from Rotten Tomatoes. Most critics hated these movies, hence the title of the series, with this one clocking in at 33%. When writing reviews for new movies, I avoid reading any criticism, but when looking back at a film from years ago, I think it makes sense to see what others had to say at the time and respond to it.

*There will be massive SPOILERS for Knowing throughout the article.

The Actual End of the World

Last week, I wrote about The Book of Eli and its focus on religion in a post-apocalyptic setting. So it’s only natural that I would follow that up with Knowing, the Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) film that focuses on religion in a pre-apocalyptic setting. What’s interesting about Knowing is that it appears as another bland Cage thriller. I’m sure some still see it that way, but I imagine few people went into this movie expecting it to end up confirming the book of Revelations from the Bible. And there’s no way anyone expected space angels to show up and transport children (and rabbits?) to a new Garden of Eden.

A lot of critics were taken aback by that, while others, such as Roger Ebert, a Proyas fanboy (he even did a commentary track for Dark City), were pleasantly surprised that the film followed through with the end of the world. I remember two things I liked about this movie the first time I watched it: the world ending and that plane crash sequence.

"Just sipping my whiskey in my inexplicably dilapidated work area staring at a bunch of numbers that represent every mass tragedy in the last fifty or so years."

Watching and writing about movies for years, I tend to find most movies predictable. When it comes to the end of the world in movies, it’s almost always already happened or its prevented. When the possibility that the world will end is brought up, the hero tends to save it. Not here, and, it seems odd to write this, I really dug that. (This reminds me of Deep Impact, which had the balls that Armageddon lacked, and let the world end.)

It’s not just that the world goes up in literal flames at the end. The destruction of the world is relevant to the character development of Cage’s depressed professor. He tells a class at the beginning of the movie that he thinks, “shit just happens.” There is no God, no plan, no fate. Over the course of the film, he is shocked to learn that many things, namely disasters, seem to be pre-ordained. And by the end of the film, he has accepted this fact, and his own fate to die with the planet. But he dies in peace, knowing (that’s the title!) that his son will live on, and that he will see his dead wife soon.

The religious element can throw people off, but it doesn’t bother me. Knowing isn’t some pro-Christian movie. Much like The Book of Eli, Christianity was simply the religion they chose to use, most likely because it’s easily recognizable to an American audience, even if they aren’t devout.

Disaster Porn or Sincere Look at the Death that Comes with Destruction?

One of my typical complaints with big action movies is that the mass destruction rarely has consequences. Lately, superhero movies have addressed this head-on, but usually after the fact. The Avengers pretty much destroy an entire city in Age of Ultron, and no one seems to care; then in the next film they’re catching heat for it. Superman levels skyscrapers while fighting Zod in Man of Steel, who cares? Then the destruction is basis for the entire concept of Batman v. Superman: Blah Blah Justice. At some point destruction was okay as long as it seemed deathless. Then people complained about it, so they made it the plot of the sequels. That’s fine, but it’s not enough. If you want to destroy buildings and whatnot, you should have the guts to show people dying.

That makes it sound like I want to watch death for entertainment, but that’s not the case (even though I do laugh every time I see that dude hit the propeller in Titanic). If I want to watch death for entertainment, I’ll watch the John Wick movies. I want to see death in destruction scenes because that’s reality, and it adds a bit of emotion to an otherwise robotic, CG-created scene.

All of this is leading to the place crash scene in Knowing. Usually, a plane crashes and explodes, end scene. But in this movie, the plane crashes and Cage runs toward the wreckage. He encounters people on fire, screaming in agony. He’s able to help some, but most are unsavable. Now, is that not more emotionally resonant than a simple explosion with implied death? The subway sequence later in the movie is the same.

Was I entertained by those scenes? Absolutely. I remember buying this mainly because I wanted to watch the plane sequence again with my surround sound system to see if it was as effective at home as it was in the theater (it was). Perhaps it’s wrong that the film shows death while attempting to be entertaining. But I’m okay with it if it’s in service of the story.

Don’t Read Your Old Reviews When Revisiting a Movie

My biggest problem revisiting The Book of Eli is that it meant reading a review I wrote for it years ago. For Knowing, it was even worse, as this was one of the first movies I ever reviewed. I stick by, and still agree with, my main points about the plot and the disaster sequences, but I was way off in other departments.

First, I was extremely critical of Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne. I sort of stick by my assessment of Byrne. She’s fine until she starts screaming her lines late in the film. But she was trying to match a screaming Cage, and no one can win that fight. As for Cage, my dismissal of his performance can be chalked up to my inexperience. I love Nic Cage, but in my inexperience, I felt obligated to bash him. Remember, this was 2009. We can all be loud and proud of our Cage-love now, but it was a different world back then. Watching Knowing again, Cage’s coma-like performance appears to be more of a choice than a lack of skill. He’s a widowed alcoholic who lost his faith; how else should be act?

My Favorite Nic Cage Moments

Knowing isn’t one of those notorious Cage movies that has dozens of YouTube videos of him freaking out, but that doesn’t me he’s normal in this movie. Here’s a list of observations and lines I found amusing regarding Cage’s performance and character.

Could you imagine having Cage as a professor. I would have stayed in college forever.

He watches a children’s show about tigers, and is so enthralled with it that he pours whiskey into a glass until it overflows. He then sets that glass down on the numbers page, and the ring it leaves leads him to discover the meaning behind the numbers. That is the best impetus to the main plot of a movie I have ever seen.

Cage’s work area or whatever it is looks like a house in a post-apocalyptic setting. Why? Did I miss something? I know it’s an old house, but the rest of the place looks relatively normal.

“I kind of freaked out on you yesterday.” How many times has Cage had to make that call in real life?

A flaming man runs past Cage. His response? “Hey! Hey!”

I know he’s going through some shit, but my God, he is a terrible father. The drinking is bad enough (he completely sleeps through his son getting up, getting ready, and going to school; and he even nearly sleeps past the time to pick him up from school. But the kicker for me was when he dropped off his son at his sister’s. At the door, he says, right in front of his son, “You said you’d take him...off my hands.” Hey son, Daddy can’t deal with your shit right now. See ya later.

"Yeah, maybe this is an odd thing to do the day the world ends, but I need those coordinates!"

At one point, Cage is heating and scraping paint off an old door from a school. This is near the end of the movie! Rose Byrne’s response kind of sums up my thoughts: “Look at what you’re doing!”

“The caves won’t save us!”

Cage driving with a gun in his hand with said gun-hand on the wheel is a classic Cage image.

As Cage drives through the mob to his parents’ house he spots his friend standing on the sidewalk. They just share a look as Cage drives. Why not pick him up? I guess he wanted a family only death? “Hey buddy, enjoy the apocalypse! I’m off to Mom and Dad’s to die in a group hug!”

Is It Crappy?

I think I might be giving this movie too much credit, but I can’t deny how much I like it. I can see why people dismiss it or completely hate it. It definitely takes a left turn in the last third. But I love it when movies take left turns. And Ebert loved it, so how bad can it be? He put it in his top ten that year! That must be it: I’m on the same level as Ebert. All jokes aside, this movie works for me because I’ve revisited it twice now. In my original review, I included an update on my thoughts after watching it at home. There’s enough going on here that I find interesting and entertaining that I keep coming back to it. That makes it a special movie for me, and thus, not crappy at all.

Random Thoughts

Ebert was a Proyas fanboy, so I’m sure he would have loved Gods of Egypt. I was not a fan, but it was an interesting watch.

Speaking of which, you can always count on Proyas to make something interesting. I don’t see how you can claim any of his movies are boring. They have their faults, but this dude really commits to his work.

There's a Hemsworth in this! Liam, to be exact. I’m sure he’s there because Proyas is also Australian.

I love the plane sequence, despite its faults. It doesn't make sense for the cop to look behind Cage when the plane comes from the side (why not just have the cop look to his right?). Cage doesn't react when he basically reaches into burning jet fuel for ten seconds. Overall, very impressive sequence, especially since it appears to be a long take (though I’m sure there was plenty of edits in there).

Who is buying a Suicide Squad animated movie for $25? Never mind, I don't want to know.

This cannot be a coincidence (just like the numbers!). The week I wrote this, I found Knowing on 4K for sale at my local Wal-Mart in a new releases location. It's a steal at $16.96(Why that price? What do those numbers mean?), but I'll stick with my plain old blu ray. Update: it was gone the next week. Sold out, or moved to the bargain bin. I like to think it sold out...

I like that the kids keep getting pushed aside, but they're the most important. The adults can't do anything. There’s probably a larger theme and point there, but I feel like I’ve spent enough words on this movie for my lifetime.

Cage left his headlights on all night after the space angels took his son. No way that truck starts.

Cage’s parents have a very nice house for a priest. Perhaps his mom had some money, but who knows. What’s up with that?

"Knowing"

**This review looks a bit different than the rest. Something's messed up with the blog website I use. Usually posting the same review three times clears up the spacing and text size issues, but it didn't work this time and after trying it a dozen or so times, I give up. Better luck next time, hopefully.

*I know I've been kind of slacking off lately what with the single review last week and nothing this past weekend and to top it off I'm posting an old review today, but I will definitely make it up this weekend. Even if I don't get to see a new movie (Bruno, most likely, though I am on the lookout for The Hurt Locker and The Brothers Bloom), I will still write up some reviews from recent DVD releases or even some much older films (I'm thinking something from Kurosawa) and I'll get a Crappy Classic in there as well (though some might consider today's review of Knowing as a Crappy Classic). And I will have a new article by this time next week.

Now, this review is old because I wrote it for the Perry County News and I was trying to keep things separate between the paper and the site at the time. I have since abandoned that idea, so I decided to add this review to the site (with some additions) since the DVD was released this week.


Knowing - Directed by Alex Proyas, starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne, rated PG-13

Even with the bad acting, this visually jarring sci-fi film really struck a chord with me. And Chigurh enjoys disaster sequences.

Knowing, the latest film from Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) almost delves into M. Night Shyamalan territory (it does feature a main character much like Mel Gibson’s character from Signs) but it saves itself with an entertaining science fiction plot and some of the best disaster sequences I have ever seen.

The story starts off in an elementary school in 1959 with a class drawing pictures of what the future might look like for a time capsule. But one troubled girl, Lucinda, writes a series of mysterious numbers instead. Cut to the present when John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) obtains the paper from his son. Koestler discovers that the numbers are actually dates and death tolls of disasters from 1959 to the present, save for three more events that Koestler must investigate and, of course, see for himself.

Koestler has to see the events so that we, the audience, can witness them as well. Proyas could’ve cut to these events and have Koestler watch them on the news, but by placing the character in the events, it adds a bit of realism to each event. I don’t want to give away what the disasters are since the shock of the first one is so great, but I will say that Proyas knows how to handle a massive, CG-filled catastrophe. He uses quick zooms and a shaking effect that allows the viewer to see everything clearly, but not focus on it enough to see the rough edges of computer effects. It also helps that the sound becomes blaring at each event, adding to the chaos of it.

The disasters themselves are enough to warrant the price of admission for this film and that’s important because this film features some awful acting and plenty of awkward dialogue. Cage does a good job of looking completely dumbstruck during the action scenes, but he’s useless when it comes to showing emotion. The character is supposed to be disconnected due to the death of his wife, but Cage takes it too far. Koestler’s son is supposed to be extremely important to him, but Cage makes each scene between father and son so awkward that you never get the sense that these two even know each other. And the alcoholic aspect of his character was unnecessary, unless it was placed there to use as an excuse for Cage being so wooden in each scene. When you throw Rose Byrne into the mix as Lucinda’s daughter it gets bad…The Happening bad. Byrne, who does a great job in her TV series Damages, is miscast here. She is even less convincing than Cage when it comes to parenting and when she starts yelling in the third act she becomes laughably bad.

The finale of this film might rub people the wrong way as well. It turns into a full bore science-fiction film with biblical connotations in the end and those elements were not necessarily there in the first two acts. There are hints to it, of course, like Koestler’s lack of faith and the mysterious people that stand in the background of many scenes and seem to be stalking Koestler and his son, but I think some people will be surprised with how far into the sci-fi genre this movie goes. I liked it, though. Proyas, who also directed the excellent Dark City (check it out if you haven’t seen it, and keep in mind that it came out before The Matrix) can make some truly thought-provoking sci-fi. The ending is different and interesting, which is something that is lacking in a lot of film endings today.

Knowing has its flaws. The acting is abysmal at times and the score can be a bit overwhelming, though that is probably because Proyas realized that he needed musical cues to tell the audience how to feel because the actors couldn’t convey it. But those problems are dwarfed by the amazing visuals during the multiple disaster sequences and the interesting sci-fi conclusion. So struggle past the acting, because Proyas more than makes up for it in action and story.

Now for my additions upon watching the film on DVD: I still feel pretty much the same about this movie and I actually like it more now that I've seen it again. Cage and Byrne are still bad, but after that first viewing I guess I got used to their bad acting and it didn't stick out to me as much as before, but it's still pretty bad. My main concern was whether or not the CG in the disaster sequences would hold up. I saw this the first time in a non-digital theater, which helps CG out at times. (I can recall being amazed by the Neo vs. hundreds of Smith fight in The Matrix Reloaded when I saw it in the theater, but when I saw it on DVD it looked like a cartoon.) The CG is a bit more apparent on DVD, but it didn't ruin anything for me. The first disaster I mention above (which is a plane crash and is in no way a spoiler anymore since previews for the DVD show and nearly every promotional picture I can find shows Cage standing in front of a crashed plane) is still great and if you have a decent speaker system it's downright awesome. Not sure why I didn't mention it the first time, but that plane crash scene is effective not only because of the shaky camera and everything, but also because it's one long take, which is odd to see when massive CG is involved. It's a jarring scene and makes this film worth a rental at least.

I mention near the end that the music is overwhelming at times in the original review. I don't know what I was talking about now. The score has this old school sci-fi sound to it that completely worked for me. Maybe they just cranked up the volume in the theater or something the first time I saw it, but it certainly didn't overwhelm me this time around.

I want to get into SPOILER territory here to discuss some of the vague sci-fi/biblical elements mentioned in the original review. This movie basically takes a turn into Christian belief when the children are taken to a new planet at the end (by "strangers" who happen to have what look like angel's wings) and set up in an Adam and Eve type situation. This is because the world actually ends. So even though the previews promised some a Day After Tomorrow type disaster movie, the viewer actually got a religion fueled science fiction revelations story. That is very interesting to me. What's most interesting, though, is that people see this ending differently than I do. The commentary track with the director hammers this home as a moderator asks many questions assuming the same things that I do and Proyas completely disagrees with the guy (for the record, Proyas sounds pretty much like a jerk throughout the commentary). I have listened to podcasts and read other reviews that have different ideas for this film as well. That shows me that this film, with all its flaws, requires a bit of thought and that is what good sci-fi is all about with or without the religious aspect.

(continued SPOILERS) I also enjoyed the end of the world scene in which Cage drives through the hectic and decimated city set to Beethoven's 7th Symphony. And seeing the entire world basically catch on fire was pretty cool as well.