MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Knowing Rated PG-13

Directed by Alex Proyas.  Starring Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury



Photo © Summit Entertainment
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

Thanks to the PG-13 rating, younger children can now be exposed to the kind of depressing apocalyptic claptrap that was formerly reserved for impressionable teenagers.  And – make no mistake about it – there are two children who are central to the plot of Knowing and the film’s conclusion also is centered upon children. 

This is a story about kids with incredible vision leading their parents towards a destiny that may lead them to God or to Something Else.  Professor John Koestler (Cage) teaches metaphysics at MIT and often asks his students if life is preordained or simply a matter of chance. 

Koestler is inclined to believe that “stuff happens”, especially since he is a recent widower and is struggling to make sense out of that loss.  When a time capsule buried in 1959 (and filled with nothing but classroom drawings of what children think the future will be like) is opened up fifty years later, there is a page filled with a strange sequence of numbers. This intrigues Koestler and he begins to study the numbers…and to discover some terrifying revelations, implying a Master Plan from Beyond. 

Knowing is filled with Biblical imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures, including Ezekiel and Genesis, but the film refuses to spend much time with God, opting for a type of science fiction spirituality that is neither comforting nor convincing.  Like 2006’s The Fountain, Knowing tries for a type of spiritual transcendence, but its climax only underscores the silliness of the entire film.  Unfortunately, too many films these days are filled with computer-generated scenes of mass destruction and mayhem. 

Is it too much to believe in a future that isn’t a meaningless dystopia?  Let’s hear it for the Kingdom of God!

Pitchfork Rating:
One halo Two hours of visually impressive, spectacular nonsense. Two pitchforks
Disturbing apocalyptic images, including creepy kids and creepy Nic Cage; some brief swearing.

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