A Thriller with Brains

There’s a lot that can be said about “Knowing.” It deals with psychological questions that have been asked countless times in movies and in life.

But the main question is whether its worth watching. Regardless of the answer, it will make you scared, excited and giggle (for the wrong reasons).

Most importantly, it will make you think.

Nicolas Cage plays John Koestler, an MIT astrophysics professor who stumbles across a list of numbers he believes to be code for the date, location and number of people killed in a given disaster.

The 50-year-old sheet of numbers was sealed in a time capsule, and up until he discovers it, all of the predictions have been accurate, leading John to fear the world will come to an end in a few days’ time.

The question that plagues John and is metaphorically portrayed throughout the movie is this: Do our lives have direction and purpose, and if so, do we have the power to change them?

Questions like this define the high point of “Knowing,” a psychological thriller that keeps you thinking, despite a flawed set of fictional rules and more than occasional overacting.

From the moment the first disaster hits, I was riveted. Here is a visually beautiful and shocking film that is firstly intense, but at the same time considers some heavy psychological implications.

It’s the ending that left me pondering whether I even enjoyed it.

The end completely alienates itself from a real, logical world, further conflicting with any morals it had previously preached. The ending is bleak and empty, whether Director Alex Proyas (“Dark City,” “I, Robot”) intended it or not, though still an artistic response to many unanswered questions.

There is greatness in this movie, but the ending, no matter how great, is wrong – and I can’t even be sure in which way.

“Knowing” will give me things to mull over for a long time, which is more than I can say or predict for any movie this year. And I hope it’s seen by enough people so I can share in their conversations.