[rating=4]

Knowing Your Critics…

Most of the times, the films that get mixed reviews prove to be the more interesting examples of filmmaking. The ones that divide opinions dramatically are generally the balls-out go-for-broke ones. When a film is uniformly well-reviewed, that sometimes insinuates that it panders to its critics, giving them exactly what they want – glossy, slick entertainment with a Hollywood stamp proudly emblazed on its sleeve (what “The Reader” strived so hard to achieve, but thankfully failed). And when a film is badly reviewed – well, it’s rare that it actually turns out to be any good (see (or rather don’t) the recent “Miss March”).

What I don’t get about “Knowing” is the fact that all the critics seemed to hate it – except one that happens to be my favorite: Roger Ebert. Ebert, especially recently, has been known to be a bit too kind on some films, but he always justifies his reviews, making them difficult – or interesting – to debate with. The man’s been around for a while, and agree or disagree – he knows film better than 99% of you out there. So how come he gave “Knowing” 4 stars, named it one of the best sci-fi films he’s ever seen, and got so inspired by it he went on to write a whole essay about determinism vs randomness, while every other critic seemed to hate the film?

I think there are mutliple reasons for this. I just saw the film – and as a film-lover myself (not QUITE as experienced as Mr. Ebert – nor will I probably ever be) who has seen thousands of features – I can assure you that “Knowing” is, in fact, quite excellent. Sure, there are some cheesy/Hollywoody lines of dialogue, and a few patchy parts where the plot mechanics creak and squeak a little bit – but overall, I walked out of the theater with my jaw still open, astounded by what I had just witnessed.

Critics have a prejudice against Nic Cage, you see. They tend to gang up on actors who are known to make some unfortunate choices. But look at Pacino and De Niro’s last few films. Wake up, people – Cage is one of our top living actors – who else has as much range as this guy does? (Read the last two paragraphs of Ebert’s review of “Adaptation” in his “Great Movies” section to see what I mean.) Sure he sleepwalked through “Bangkok Dangerous” and the terrible, terrible “Ghost Rider”. But he also starred in the aforementioned “Adaptation”, “Leaving Las Vegas”, “Raising Arizona”, “Matchstick Men”, “Weather Man”, “Bringing Out the Dead”, etc. In “Knowing” he’s almost in every single scene, and he carries it with aplomb, showing the mounting desperation and terror as few other actors of his caliber could match. The fact that certain critics even refer to his “perhaps botoxed” face or receding hairline is completely irrelevant criticism, dripping with irony and unjustified prejudice.

I also disagree with the claim that the film is a mix-up of genres. I think it flowed very well. Alex Proyas is a skillful director (“Dark City” is a masterpiece), and he handles the big budget well. The special effects serve the story instead of just showing themselves off, like, say, in “Transformers” (which surprisingly got much better reviewed – and was a crappy, dumb film; another one of Michael Bay’s mental masturbations, this time about giant robots, with absolutely no point). Watch the airplane-crash sequence in “Knowing”, filmed in a stunning single-shot handheld style, a-la “Children of Men” – it’s masterclass filmmaking that will take your breath away. Or the train-wreck scene. As for the ending – well, that’s a whole other story. Forget “Armageddon”, “Deep Impact”, and especially “The Core”, “Day After Tomorrow” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. I am obsessed with apocalyptic themes, and let’s just say this is how I imagine it in my nightmares. It will blow you away; I witnessed the audience in the theater, eyes wide and full of terror and wonder.

This could happen. NASA has been talking recently about solar flare activity. Look it up. It’s scary.

To conclude, unlike those other apocalyptic blockbusters, “Knowing” has thought behind it. It questions things like religion, fate, faith, and chaos. A similar film that stunned me equally was Zemeckis’ “Contact”, another underrated gem. “Knowing” has an intellectual backbone, tremendous sfx, auter-ish trademarks and a powerful central performance. This is what blockbusters shoud be like.

So screw those other critic. Listen to Ebert, if just this once.