Knowing (2009) is a sci-fi thriller directed by Alex Proyas and Nicolas Cage. The film follows John Koestler, a University professor who stumbles on a decade-old document filled with numbers. While he doesn’t think much about the paper at first, he starts to find patterns in the numbers the more he studies it, leading him to discover dark prophecies for the near future. The film was released to mixed reviews but made a pretty good amount of money, grossing 215 million off of a 50 million dollar budget. In my opinion, Knowing is not very good.

Okay, I’m being a little mean. Knowing isn’t a BAD movie by any means. I actually like a lot of the ideas. It has an interesting premise, it’s shot pretty well, and all the performances are decent. The main problems with the movie come from the pacing being so slow for most of the runtime, making two hours feel like a lifetime, as well as the ending not living up to the hype of the mystery. 

It’s, unfortunately, one of the many late 2000s disaster/sci-fi/action movies to be forgotten about. That’s not why I’m writing about Knowing, though. If I were just writing about the movie, this article would be over two sentences ago. I’m writing about Knowing because this movie had a very strange impact on my love of film growing up, an impact that speaks to a much greater idea of one of the many powers of cinema. 

Nicolas Cage in ‘Knowing’ via Summit Entertainment

Back in 2010, I was living overseas in Samoa. I still had a normal childhood watching the same shows and movies, playing the same games, and reading the same books as any other kid my age, but one different thing was that it was much harder to buy movies. Of course, some stores sold movies; however, no store ever had the amount that the big stores in the US did (most just sold bootlegs). Because of this, I always wanted to see what movies were available at places whenever I could. That’s where Knowing comes in.

I first discovered the DVD for Knowing in a spinner rack at the main entrance of Cost-U-Less (Costco of the Pacific). Immediately I was taken with the poster, not because of the numbers or the mysterious title, but because I thought the image of the earth on fire looked cool. I remember showing it to my Mom because it had the “Ghost Rider guy” on the cover. (She likes Ghost Rider (2007), but she told me to put it back because it looked too old for me.)

‘Knowing’ Poster from Summit Entertainment

Much like how Nic Cage starts to study the mysterious document, I started to study the film as much as I could without actually watching the thing. I would use my computer time (when I should’ve been playing Poptropica and Lego Creator) to look up the film and watch clips of it on 2010 YouTube. And yes, every time my Mom and I went to Cost-U-Less, I would check up on the spinning rack to see if Knowing was still there, waiting for someone to pick it up. It always was. 

I did eventually see the movie when I was around thirteen and thought it was okay, certainly not as good as that Roger Ebert guy on the cover said it was. However, even with that disappointing reaction, Knowing is a movie that I have always had a soft spot for and think about from time to time. My interest in the film became one of my first real experiences seeking out and learning more about certain movies, reading up on them even if I had no way of watching them. This is something that I would only start to do more and more as I became interested in studying film. This is the power that cinema has. Like hearing the chorus from a good song or reading an excerpt from a good book, Cinema has so many ways to capture the attention of someone. 

Whether that be through reviews, trailers, seeing screenshots or trailers, or even stumbling across a random DVD on a rack. Cinema is a combination of every art form out there. It has the ability to do so much with so many different aspects. I think this is one of the reasons why cinema is so enticing. Film fans want to seek out new movies not just because they might have their favorite actor or cool effects but also because they know that it’s an experience they will only be able to have through the world of cinema.

This is true for both good and bad movies. Just like how there is no experience like watching a genuinely good movie, there is also no experience quite like watching a “so bad it’s good movie.” No matter what, though, the viewer is still experiencing a world that could only be created through the power of cinema. One of my film classes focused heavily on this topic. We talked about how there is a thrill to both knowing and not knowing certain films. It’s fun to recognize movies you know, but it’s also fun to seek out and discover new films. Regardless of the actual quality of the film, you’re still going out of your way to experience more movies. 

From ‘Cinema Paradiso’ (1988) where Salvatore reminisces on the old film fragments he collected growing up.

I’ve jumped around a lot in this article, from quickly reviewing a movie, to childhood memories, to existential cinema thoughts. The point that I’m trying to make with all of this is simply that cinema is like nothing else. It offers experiences and memories that no other art form can, and that’s really cool. So next time you’re sitting down to watch a movie, think back. Is there a certain film that got YOU interested in film? (or at the very least, made you want to see it even if you knew nothing about it) Also, don’t ever feel bad about actively wanting to watch or liking movies that are considered “bad.” Because even if they aren’t anywhere near as good as the big films, you’re still experiencing the power and magic of movies. 

Ok, I’m done being sappy about film. If I continue this any longer, I’ll start to sound like that Nicole Kidman commercial. 

Article Courtesy of Brodie Blizzard