I caved. The pressure got to me again. I sacrificed half of my principles and $20 or so of my dollars (between Mrs. Fletch and I). I had to see if the unintentional comedy could remotely come close to matching The Wicker Man. That's right - I saw Knowing.And you know what? I friggin' liked it. Alex Proyas' apocalyptic time capsule thriller somehow managed to sink its claws into me early on, its linear jumping framed confidently by the director. Showing that same steady hand, he even manages to coax a subtle (at times), dare I say powerful performance out of his star, the traditionally awful Nic Cage.
Lost in a sea of chaos searching for answers, Cage offers up the numerically mad manic energy that Jim Carrey failed to grasp in the similarly themed The Number 23, though the end-of-the-world gravitas that Knowing brings might have been the bigger key at play.
Sure, there's some unintentional comedy to be had, including, but not limited to, Cage whacking a tree with a baseball bat whilst screaming about 'whisper people,' but it never gets out of hand and, thankfully, a hair is never wildly out of place. While it may not be the four-star gem that Roger Ebert declared it to be, Knowing is certainly worth a look, and forced me to eat just a little bit of crow.
Fletch's Film Rating:
"Would I lie to you?"
Random note: Happy April Fool's Day. In case you missed my similar 'review' of Next, click here.
5 people have chosen wisely: on "Fletch's Mini Film Review: Knowing"
I was so happy for about 30 seconds...then you tore my heart out with a spoon. I am sad now. I hate April 1st.
LOL, that was funny Fletch. I was like no way Fletch would see Knowing considering its bad reputation and word of mouth. God, I do hate April Fools Day. Everytime I see something exciting, It always ends up being fake. I might rent Knowing on Blu Ray once it comes out just to see the special effects that everyone keeps saying is good, but I don't think Id waste $10-11 seeing it in theaters.
Remember when Nic Cage did this same premise and it was called "Next"?
Nic - I'm so happy. Tearing your heart out with a spoon sounds like a fun afternoon. I think I'll watch the ending of The Wicker Man on a continuous loop while I do it.
Farzan - believe it or not, I actually am tempted to see it, just so I can enjoy it as a comedy, but I hate hate hate giving money to his movies, thereby telling Hollywood that I want more. But yeah, part of me is dying to see just how bad it is.
Kyle - you'd think he would have known that. After all, his Next character could see into the future for 6 seconds or something stupid like that. Speaking of unintentional comedies, I'm disappointed - I haven't seen Next hit any cable stations I have yet. Seen it on Starz or Cinemax or something? That might warrant a subscription...
Hey now... don't rip on the premise of Next! (It was 3 minutes, by the way). It's based on a Philip K. Dick story, and PKD is a freakin' genius.
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