Knowing?

John and I went to see the new Nicolas Cage movie Knowing tonight. I am usually a fan of apocalyptic movies. But this give up on itself 1/3 of the way in and, in my opinion, takes the plot from something that could be interesting, and turns it into a silly, psudo-spiritualistic, trifle piece of crap. If you have not seen it I suggest waiting for video (and not reading ahead any further if you do plan to see it). If you do not care, feel free to read on.

**SPOILERS**

Basic premise of movie: “A teacher (Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.” – Flixster synopsis

Another review here

Now let me give you my take on it:

It started off in a fun direction. I enjoyed the questions of causality and determinism. I thought their creepy house was cool. I thought the weird little girl (Lucinda) writing the numbers in 1959 was interesting. The use of people viewed far away in dark clothing was spooky (and the main Blond character in this roll really reminded me of Michael Holland!). The music was also sufficiently creepy and scary at times. They even got me to jump once (I am never a fan of the combinations of the dark, mist, woods, flashlights, and men in dark trench coats).

About a 1/3 of the way though the movie I started to notice something – religious undertones. They started out vague and by the end of the movie were so freaking obvious (to me at least) that it was annoying. But I am getting ahead of myself.

When Cage first notices the sequence of numbers I thought this could be interesting – something Nostradamus like. Oddly however, he seems to figure it out just in time for several bad things to happen (like a plane crash and train wreck) - all in a few days time. What if he had waited a week to look into it? Would the world still have just ended? This whole line of thought is pushing the idea that everything has a plan and direction, nothing is by chance. This is a common theme in the move. Also, Cage’s character is a professor at MIT, yet, oddly enough, he is only teaching one day in the film. I guess he either had a great grad student who taught for him or it is the common Hollywood idea that professors can leave work whenever they want and not worry about their job. This was annoying.

The scene where Cage figures out that some numbers correspond with lat/long is followed (very quickly, the other numbers represent death toll and date) by a horrific, graphic plane crash (almost more that we needed to see IMO). This is then followed by an equally graphic subway train accident (with echoes of 9/11 – indented perhaps?), where he saves a woman with a baby on the train. I initially thought that he had interrupted the “Space Time Continuum” like in Back to the Future, but I guess that is hoping for to much. That may have been a better story line to peruse.

Cage and Rose Byrne (Lucinda’s daughter) work together to try and figure out the last sequence of numbers on her mothers list and travel to a trailer in the woods where Lucinda had spent her last days before killing herself. Cage realizes that a sun spot explosion is going to over take the earth, burning up everything on the surface and killing everything (something Cage’s son is shown in a vision by one of the “others” – a burning woods outside his bedroom window). They decided to take their kids (Byrne has a daughter, who also sees/hears the “others, like Cage’s son) and head to a cave. Only then does Cage remember being told that Lucinda had been found scratching numbers into a door at her school Cage takes the door, finds the numbers and realizes that it is the lat/long for Lucinda’s trailer in the woods. Unfortunately, not before Byrne has taken the kids in a panic for the cave, leaving Cage behind. This turns into a chase, and the kids are kidnapped by the “others.” Byrne is killed and Cage tracks down the kids at the trailer in the woods. The children explain that the “others” are there to protect them. They are also carrying a rabbit each. Weird.

This is where it gets really weird. A “spaceship” descends from the sky, the “others” turn into translucent beings in humanoid form, and take the children who board the “ship.” But only before the boy discovers that his father (Cage) can not come along, because he is a nonbeliever. Earlier in the movie Cage admitted to not believing in heaven and that life is a series of random events, suggesting he is an atheist. It is also reveled earlier that Cage is the son of a minister, and his family is still religious. He is not (due to science? The death of his wife? It is not explained). Cage is sad but realized he has to let his son go. His son and Byrne’s daughter board the “ship” and the others then grow what appear to be translucent wings and rise into the sky with the children. We then see several of these “ships” rising into space from all around the planet. Cage is sad, drive back home to see his family, witnesses the masses of humanity burnin’ and a looten’ on his way though the city, and gets to his parents house just in time to hug his parents and sister before the fire from the solar flair envelops them all, along with the entire world. The parting shot is of the children, clad in white clothing, dropped of on a planet where there is a clean wonderful environment. They lay the bunnies down and run together laughing towards a tree that is bound to contain a snake and an apple.

Catch all that? Can you say religious propaganda?!?! There is quite a bit in there, touching on many different areas (although convoluted – buddhism, scientology, mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, catholithism, Christianity, who knows what else!). I am by no means a theologian or expert of any type in this area. That is my dad, who is a pastor, and went to school for several years studying this sort of stuff (religion, not movies and speculation). So I did grow up hearing about a certain degree of this (religion, movie and speculation!). And I have known people of all of these religions (many of whom are great friends). I admit to not knowing much about scientology, from which most of my knowledge comes from South Park episodes. I am not trying to pick a fight here or even admit to knowing the facts and details about all of the religions I am speaking of below. Please do not get offended and feel free to point out any mistakes.

• Reincarnation – a possible link to the children getting to start over again (or be “reborn”) on the “new planet” (not sure if it is a different planet, an earth in a parallel universe, our earth after it has been cleansed by the fire…). A nod to Buddhism or Hinduism?
  

• The possible alien/spaceship link (scientology)…are the “others” actually angels, aliens, what (other than creepy)?!? Were those really wings we see appear from their back as they rise, or is it just energy matter or a blur? Or is it just what ever you want to see…
  

• I have been told that some religions, including Jehovah's Witnesses and devout Rastafarians, believe that only a certain number of individuals can go to heaven (Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people can go to Heaven). This may explain why several “ships” leave earth and land on the new “earth” distributing their passengers across the planet (is the planet really heaven?). It may also explain why Cage’s parents, who are portrayed as “good Christians”, are not “taken” before the end of the earth. Many Christians believe that they will be taken to heaven before the end of the world. If the parents are true believers, why were they not taken and left with the other “sinners/atheist/crooks” we see around the town being bad and sad about their fate before the planet is destroyed? Is it because they were not “good enough” and in the final count (or not of the religion that believes in that type of thing and are “right” come to find out)?
  

• The whole single tree at the end of the movie (representing the “Tree of Life” I assume) that the children run to – echoing Adam and Eve. The presence of the two bunnies the children bring with them (Noah’s Ark anyone?), with the idea that the other inhabitants dropped off also had some sort of animal with them also. All stories from the Old Testament (both Catholic/Christian themes).
  

• Also there were rocks. I like rocks. But these rocks were given to Lucinda and Cage’s son by the “others.” There were small black river pebbles. The end with the “ship” and Cage’s goodbye to his son takes place on a surface covered by these pebbles. When the “ship” leaves many of the pebbles rise off of the ground. Do these pebbles represent a spirit/Soul also leaving with the “ship” and going to heaven, or are they just rocks that are affected by the anti gravity of the “ships?” Is the rock given to the boy a symbol of his dead mother? Is it a sign that he is a chosen one? Why are they all over the ground? What is the significance?
  

And it takes all this, weaves it together, and spits out the movie Knowing!? I am not sure if this movie was pretentious enough to try and create ‘religious harmony’ or if it was pushing some sort of agenda – reaching the world and ‘spreading its message/mission/crusading/ect…’ The saddest thing is that I think many of the crowd in the movie thought it was just another Sci-fi movie – where the kids were just taken away by aliens to another planet (if that is the case and it is a psudo-religious flick, then they failed in there mission even worse!). And maybe that is what happened and I am just reading way too much into the movie. But I do not think so. Just my opinion.