Knowing: I know this...

It's great when the star of a film is able to give a performance that is not only memorable, but elevates said film into something more. However there can be times when an actor's performance, like say Nic Cage in Knowing, can be so awkward and distracting that it's hard to even pay attention to the movie.

A time capsule unearthed at his son's school holds dire predictions for John and the rest of the world, one of which is that the end of life on the planet will happen soon. Will John be able to stop that prediction from coming true?

As it was pointed out to me by a good friend that saw Knowing before I did, the religious overtones in the film are heavy, even if director Alex Proyas tried to mask that by adding an extraterrestrial element to the whole thing. John (played by Nic Cage) was a broken man who had lost faith after the death of his wife, turning away from religion and family. His story arc, the road to redemption by trying to figure out just what the mysterious predictions from the time capsule meant, was a compelling one, but it was severely mismanaged via poor storytelling on the part of Proyas and the screenwriters and the aforementioned bad acting. The film seemed to become bloated and plodding when it got away from John's search for answers about the numbers or attempted to bring other characters into the mix (I love Rose Byrne but she seriously added nothing to the film). The whole relationship between John and Diana (Byrne's character) felt forced and silly at points as she took him at his word one minute then yelled at him for being a crackpot the next. The bland characters and gaping plot holes did nothing but hurt the film and if redemption and family were truly what the movie was attempting to explore, then more time should have been spent doing so and not trying to awe the audience with badly CGI'ed plane crashes. Then there's Nic Cage, whose own unique brand of acting might work for some, but clearly is not for everyone. He really was just unlikable as John, and the staccato-like unevenness of his performance could leave one wondering how the guy still gets work.

On paper Knowing seemed like a cool concept with predictions about the end of the world, creepy numbers which could help save everyone from destruction and a main character whose journey to salvation would make for a gripping viewing experience. Too bad it turned out to be another spasmodic sci-fi junker.

Grade: C-