Knowing ***

Nicolas Cage is one of those actors who always seems to be in films yet, despite the apparent popularity and success that allow him to keep doing major movies, very few people seem to actually like him, with his acting constantly being criticised and his hair style often getting more attention than his acting ability. Personally, while I rarely find Cage to be that convincing an actor, I constantly find him to be a very entertaining screen presence who is consistently watchable, if never memorable. His recent track record has been very hit and miss (when anyone does as many films as him this is inevitable), with him having appeared in some absolutely abysmal films but also some extremely entertaining ones. His latest movie Knowing looks to be in the latter category with an intriguing concept and Alex Proyas (I, Robot) as director making this one of Cage’s more promising films of late.

In 1959, the students of an elementary school in Massachusetts bury a time capsule that is meant to be unearthed in 2009. When it is unearthed and opened, its contents consist of images drawn by the children of what they thought the future would be like. One of the things contained in the capsule is a sequence of numbers and student Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury) takes it home with him, believing that the numbers hold some meaning. His father John (Nicolas Cage) is an astrophysics professor and he realises that there is some meaning to the numbers, and a very chilling one it is. Realizing that the numbers relate to every major global disaster in the last 50 years, detailing dates, locations and number of people killed, he comes to the conclusion that the numbers are intended as a warning. The remaining numbers in the sequence warn of a number of impending disasters and John sets about trying to stop them, with the reluctant help of Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), the daughter of the girl who wrote the numbers, but soon he learns that the final disaster may threaten all of mankind and may be unstoppable. Also, a mysterious unknown force seems to be following him and his family around and its intentions are unclear.

Knowing is very much a hit and miss affair, falling directly between the two camps of Nicolas Cage movie, being neither abysmal nor truly engaging. This is through no fault of director Alex Proyas though. Proyas, who has proven himself to be a very capable director in the past, handles the film very well, delivering a reasonably entertaining disaster thriller that features a number of very well executed disaster sequences. On occasion, his use of shaky camera technique is a bit annoying but this isn’t too big a problem. He also manages to create a sense of unease throughout the film, which aided by a decent musical score, creates a tense atmosphere. The tension is well handled with the film actually being quite scary in places, aided by suggestions that all is not going to end well. In the visual effects department, we are given effects that aren’t particularly spectacular but they do get the job done, being decent but unmemorable. Where the film goes wrong is in the storyline. The basic concept for the story is a very good one but the way it is handled in the film is very poor, with the writer’s incorporation of certain paranormal elements – I won’t give it away here but it’s not too hard to figure out – detracting from the effectiveness of the overall scenario. These elements verge on cliché and not very well done cliché at that, and lead to a climax that is unsatisfying, and that doesn’t really make sense or fit in with the tone of the film as whole. You may not see it coming but this isn’t because it is cleverly executed, just that it seems completely out of place. This is even more the case with the tacked on closing sequence which only seems to be present to ensure that the film doesn’t end on a downbeat note, and this is a very downbeat movie. Alex Proyas does his best despite such shortcomings and just about manages to overcome some of the setbacks but a potentially great film is ruined by weak, predictable and poorly written plot devices. On the acting front, Nicolas Cage doesn’t especially convince as a professor type character nor is he incredibly entertaining here but he delivers a competent performance that does the job, if not with any sense of flair. A more capable actor could have brought some real depth to the role. The other actors are also competent but none of them are really required to do that much. Essentially, the performers suffice but no one excels. All in all, Knowing is a watchable but forgettable piece of cinema that you may enjoy but you won’t leave the cinema knowing anything that you didn’t already.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

The Haunting In Connecticut *½

The words ‘Based on a true story’ have been used many times in relation to horror movies. Usually though this is little more than a marketing gimmick to entice gullible moviegoers to see the film based on the pretence that it finds its inspirations in real life, with the truth that serves as inspiration for the film usually so mundane and unincidental as to render the meaning of the words completely inert. It appears that this is very much the case with The Haunting In Connecticut, the latest horror film to carry the words, and considering the numerous criticisms of the real life story it could even be said that it is more ‘loosely inspired by a fictional story’.

Matt Campbell (Kyle Gallner) is a teenager who is suffering from cancer and his mother Sara (Virginia Madsen) is determined to help him through no matter what it takes. Forced to relocate so that they can be closer to where Matt is receiving his treatment, Sara and her family move into a house in upstate Connecticut. At first everything seems to be perfectly fine, but soon Matt begins seeing horrific things in the house. Initially, this is put down to a side effect of his medication, but soon it becomes clear that something far more sinister is at work. Apparently, the house has a very dark history and violent, supernatural events begin to occur, with not only Matt but the whole family experiencing them. Their only help comes from Reverend Popescu (Elias Koteas), a fellow cancer sufferer who believes that Matt’s closeness to death allows him to see over to the other side. With the events getting more and more severe, along with Matt’s condition, the family attempt to overcome the horrific events going on around them and also come to terms with the transformations that Matt is undergoing.

The marketing for The Haunting In Connecticut made it look like countless other horror movies that you have probably seen, yet, considering the generally sorry state of the horror genre as of late, it actually seemed like one of the more promising horror films in some time. The film does deliver on this promise in that it is one of the better fright flicks seen in a while but this says far more about the quality of recent horror movies than it does about the quality of this film. One of the key areas in which this film is set apart from other genre entries is in the acting which is of a much higher standard than has been lately, even though it still isn’t much to speak of. The film also delivers some genuinely scary scenes with a few decent jumps, a reasonably effective sense of unease and some slightly (implied) gruesome sequences. The séance sequences are particularly well executed, managing to pretty creepy. Sadly, however, such moments are too few and far between and most of the scares are tired, predictable and not very scary at all. In fact, it you have seen any of the countless other haunted house movies you will know exactly what to expect from this film’s pitiful attempts at scaring its audience. With very little that is fresh to offer the film falls back on numerous overused horror plot devices which now just seem dull and boring, and this isn’t helped by the fact that they aren’t pulled off with any kind of flair or panache. This is really what lets the film down. A lot could have been done with regard to the hallucinations of Matt, with the audience being asked to question whether what is happening is real or in his head but any chance of this is destroyed by the revelation that everything really is happening. What could have been an interesting psychological piece is instead just yet another mediocre and forgettable fright film. The storyline is just typical horror, completely wasting a potentially thought provoking premise. It has reached a point now where films such as this have so little value that it is a wonder that they ever get made at all, and The Haunting In Connecticut does absolutely nothing to change any of this, with the only people likely to get any real appreciation out of it being those who have never seen any horror movies before whatsoever.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Reviews by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

---

We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.

---

Trending on BRWC:

---

Cool Posts From Around the Web:

---

---