# 303. Cinema : 'Knowing' funny for a thriller

Science fiction. Starring Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury and Rose Byrne. Directed by Alex Proyas.[PG-13. 122 minutes] If you see only one bad movie this year, definitely make it "Knowing."

The first major disappointment from director Alex Proyas is a disaster movie, a horror picture, a "Da Vinci Code"-style thriller and an end-of-days religious film all at once. And with all of those genres represented, the film still succeeds best as a comedy. There's something about Nicolas Cage delivering apocalyptic lines ("I can still see their faces ... burning ...") that never stops being funny.

"Knowing" is a disappointment for fans of Proyas, who had a strong record making science-fiction films, including the excellent "Dark City." This one isn't worthless, but it's a surprisingly messy effort from the director who made "The Crow" seem less than ridiculous.

Cage is John Koestler, a professor at MIT, very heavy drinker and widowed father of a precocious young boy who unearths a letter filled with seemingly random numbers. Koestler figures out that the numbers are a code, predicting the date, location and body count of every major disaster from the past 50 years. Three more are coming. Will he be able to avert the inevitable?

There are dozens of ideas in "Knowing," but few are adequately explored. Even the scene where Koestler breaks the code is handled with almost zero excitement. (No doubt you've had a harder time solving the Jumble.)

The gaunt Cage, who is known for putting an exemplary amount of effort into lousy roles (see: "Ghost Rider"), borders on ridiculous here, in part because of a script that gives him little to do but freak out or act depressed. Proyas seems equally uninspired. He deserves credit for creating a pure science-fiction film with bold ideas. But the exploration of these ideas is so shallow, and often so contradictory, that the effort becomes patronizing.

The filmmaker does succeed with most of the special effects, including an amazing plane crash sequence. Less successful is a scene in the woods with animals running away from an unseen inferno. It's pretty much impossible to take the rest of a film seriously once you've seen a flaming moose running toward the camera in slow motion.

-- Advisory: Strong language, children in peril and disaster sequences that involve combustible woodland creatures.

source : SFGate