Knowing
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: March 20, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
12
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Knowing is among the best science-fiction films I've seen -- frightening, suspenseful, intelligent and, when it needs to be, rather awesome. Read full review
70
Film ThreatScott Mendelson
This is a severely flawed, but also a fascinating and engrossing science fiction film, a picture that offers far more than surface thrills. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStan Hall
By being judicious with CGI, Proyas gives the film's handful of disaster sequences great impact. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
It's just engaging enough to make you accept the possibility that two kids from the Boston suburbs may just be mankind’s only hope for the future, and just exciting enough to make you forget that you're watching a Nicolas Cage movie. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Genre fans always looking for something new and awesome may feel like they've seen most of this before, but the conceptual and emotional strength of Summit's Nicolas Cage starrer largely carries the day. Read full review
60
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Yes, Knowing is creepy, at least for the first two-thirds or so, in a moderately satisfying, if predictable, way. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Science fiction fans will feel gypped, disaster movie fans will appreciate about 10 minutes of screen time and be bored by the rest, and no one else will care. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Knowing has about a half-dozen screenwriter credits, which may explain why scenes crash up against one another - smart, stupid, far-fetched, compelling. And the trouble is that Cage walks (or runs) through them all, treating each with the same level of intensely goofy seriousness. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneChristopher Borrelli
Until it jumps the tracks into self-righteousness, though, Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas, can also be as unnerving as the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone." Read full review
50
PremiereOlivia Putnal
While the concept is interesting, the whole thing comes off as a rather hilarious, um, disaster. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Early scenes of mayhem and destruction are marred by subpar special effects; those in the final reel are spectacular, but there's a long wait for them because the movie is so maddeningly, portentously slow. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
Whatever else Proyas has done in Knowing, he has created an ending that is sure to divide audiences into camps of love it or hate it, deeming its message either hopeful or hopelessly heavy-handed. For me, it doesn't quite work; still I'm glad he took the risk. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Knowing offers mumbo jumbo on an apocalyptic scale. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kamal AL-Solaylee
A catalogue of made-in-America delusions, hallucinations and cosmic catastrophes that draws on environmental fear-mongering in one reel and evangelical lore the next. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Knowing frequently feels one Revelation quote away from turning into a chiding, fundamentalist-friendly end-of-the-world movie in the "Left Behind" mold. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The draggy, lurching two hours of Knowing will make you long for the end of the world, even as you worry that there will not be time for all your questions to be answered. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Reviewers sometimes insult actors by saying they don't vary their expressions across an entire movie. But until Knowing, I never thought that could literally be true. Nicolas Cage does widen his eyes with about 15 minutes left in the film. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Starts off mildly ridiculous, ascends to the full-blown ludicrous, and finally sails boldly off the edge of the absolutely preposterous. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
If you're of a mind to believe a dreary and far-fetched thriller about numerology-crazed alien life forms, then you may find the movie mildly diverting. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
UH-UH. Non. Nein. Negative. Sept. 11 is not to be used as the setup for a cheesy disaster prophecy flick. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
If you want to know how inept the movie is...well, it's so inept that you may wish you were watching an M. Night Shyamalan version of the very same premise. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyJim Ridley
What would a Christian Apocalypse movie look like with a big budget, a talented director, and star power of higher wattage than a discount Baldwin brother? Here comes the answer: like a glum hybrid of the "Final Destination" movies, an Irwin Allen disaster bash, and the kitschiest parts of Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain." Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Director Alex Proyas resolutely thinks in B-movie terms. Even with an A-list budget, he oversells every plot point and gooses the thrills with hokey lighting, bombastic music and serious overacting. Read full review
30
SalonStephanie Zacharek
If Alex Proyas' Knowing were reasonably entertaining -- instead of just dour, pointless and tedious -- it would be a camp classic. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
If you see only one bad movie this year, definitely make it Knowing. The first major disappointment from director Alex Proyas is a disaster movie, a horror picture, a "Da Vinci Code"-style thriller and an end-of-days religious film all at once. Read full review
25
TV Guide MagazineCammila Albertson
Knowing is the path to eternal pain. Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Isn't prophetic ... just pathetic Read full review
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