I finally made it to the movie theatre to check out this movie. Of course, by now, it's at the $1 movies . . actually $1.50 or $2, depending on which day you go . . but that's ok. There's nothing more satisfying than watching a movie for a buck . . or 2. Going in to it, I really didn't know anything about this movie, other than he finds a list that foretells every cataclysmic event in the last 50 years. It had a neat premise. 50 years ago an elementary school class participated in the burying of a time capsule. They all made pictures to put in it. One student however, who seemed to be haunted by voices whispering to her, puts in a paper that's a big list of numbers. 50 years later, when the capsule is opened, Nicholas Cage's son, Chandler Canterbury, is given the page with all the numbers on it. Nicholas' character, who is an MIT professor, quickly notices a pattern in the numbers. It turns out they're a list of dates, and casualties, of events that have happened in our recent history . . 50 years. One of which is the hotel fire in which his wife died a year or so ago. Nicholas' character was a religious man. At least he came from a religious background. But, upon his wife's death, he forgot all those beliefs. He gave up the notions of 'destiny' and 'pre-determination' for those of chaos and randomness. A universe without a supreme being. Those are pretty strong, and intense themes throughout the movie, but . . I don't feel that that's what it was all about. Yes it was a driving force for him, but . . I really think it was his thirst for knowledge and answers . . no matter what the cost, or repercussions, that was this characters motivation. I don't think he was necessarily trying to prove or disprove any beliefs, he just wanted to know why his wife died and what purpose it served . . other than the 'random chaos' that he now believes makes up the universe. He never really gets the answers to those questions, but . . the movie does come to an unexpected conclusion. Yes it's the natural course of events . . what the movie was leading up to, but . . I didn't really think that they'd go there. I thought that somehow they'd avert the crisis. And the mystery men that appear . . the 'whisperers'? They're really left to the viewers interpretation. They could be angels, aliens, from the future . . it's never really explained. You have to sort that one out yourself. Being a father though, the part that always appeals to me the most is the relationship between the father and son figures. There's a really touching moment during the end of the movie between Nicholas and his son that had my eyes watering. My wife was balling. But it really made me think that everything he had done during this story was to try to protect his son, and make his life a little better . . a little easier. As much as he mourned his wife's loss, I think he also felt guilty that he left his son without a mother. In the end it's a science-fiction movie . . with a science-fiction story and ending. But I think it's the human story that makes it worth watching. I think it might be a good movie to watch a second time . . to pick up on some of the stuff I missed the first, now that I know what's going to happen. Either way, I feel like I got my $1 worth, and I enjoyed it. The ending was a bit . . questionable, but . . what else were they supposed to do?
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