Knowing (2009)

: Mashed Potato


Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, Lara Robinson

A time capsule, buried by elementary students in 1959, is opened fifty years later, to reveal the student’s visions of our society in the future. The catch is that one student’s drawing is actually a series of numbers that appear to mean nothing, but prove to be predictions of disastrous events. That premise alone appealed to me, and some of the special effects were also impressive. Unfortunately, about half way through the movie I got the feeling that the film was taking a direction I just couldn’t buy into; I was right. I would have much rather seen an open ended conclusion or the promise of disasters untold, but the story uses the premises to preach and reach, for what I won’t say. It just isn’t about what I thought it would be, and I was disappointed. It starts out creepy and suspenseful and ends up with a nice bow tied around it; not exactly the thriller it could have been and that’s too bad. I normally don’t like to criticize someone else’s vision, so I feel bad about my reaction to this one. It’s worth a look because of the first part of the film; it has the potential to spark some conversation and thought, but I wouldn’t place too high an expectation on the overall story.

PotatoPatti