PEOPLE WHO need to be able to control their existence get fixated on knowing what the future holds—when the world will end, etc. Well, Nicolas Cage’s latest starrer, “Knowing,” can give such control freaks the cinematic fix they yearn for. But, what does it offer less fixated folks? As it turns out, not much.

As Alex Proyas’ sci-fi caper gets underway, it does offer a mentally stirring discussion about the relative merits of the combative theories of randomness and determination (Does everything happen by chance? Or has everything been pre-planned and pre-programmed?).

Cage’s astrophysicist character is a randomness advocate not because he’s a scientist and nonbeliever, but because his wife died in a hotel fire years ago, leaving him and their young son broken and bereft. If somebody as wonderful as his wife could be felled by accidental death just like that, what order or intelligence could there be in the universe?

That’s why Cage is peeved when he learns that, 50 years ago, a little girl was able to write down a seemingly haphazard series of numbers that later turned out to be predictions of every big disaster that the world experienced in the half-century that ensued. If authentic, the girl’s predictions would be incontrovertible proof of the validity and actuality of predetermined existence!

The concept is so inimical to Cage’s belief system that he rejects it out of hand—until, one by one, the predictions come true with a vengeance. The first affirmation is a lulu: A plane crashes in front of Cage’s eyes!

Subsequent disasters aren’t as believably achieved, but this flaw turns out to be minor when compared to the movie’s messy storytelling, which piles on too many distracting notions, and sadly squanders the validity and cogency of its initial thematic premises.

What goes wrong? The major irritant appears to be the introduction of a superior race of extraterrestrials that’s come to planet Earth to save some of its inhabitants from a predetermined global disaster.

Now, aliens from outer space have been used as plot devices in other movies to little negative effect. In this film, however, they are depicted in such a fake-mysterious manner that they evoke giggles instead of dramatic intensity.

Also quite distracting is the introduction of two additional characters, the prescient girl’s daughter and granddaughter, who join Cage in his frenetic race to save the entire planet. These new characters are poorly limned and inserted into the main plot that they irritate rather than clarify.

Also a turn-off is the production’s loud and relentless musical scoring, so insistent that it occasionally upstages the actors. That, it turns out, isn’t difficult to do, since the actors here, led by Cage (who’s seen better days as a thespian), are woefully inept.

This really is a pity, since the movie’s themes are initially engrossing. Other plus factors include the production’s final images, which show the destruction of New York City in harrowing, detailed fashion. Too bad that, by the time those convincing images hit the screen, the film has lost its hold on its viewers, who leave the theater still in the dark, not knowing much about anything at all…

‘Eleventh Hour’

Every Wednesday on C/S origin, “Eleventh Hour” follows brilliant biophysicist Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell) as he’s called upon by the government to act as its last line of defense when power players abuse and misuse scientific discoveries and breakthroughs for their own gain.

Patti Page

Singing star Patti Page performs in Manila on May 8 in her “Greatest Hits” tour show at the Araneta Coliseum, with a second performance on May 10 at Cebu City’s Waterfront Hotel.

Page has racked up hit songs like “Tennessee Waltz,” “Mocking Bird Hill,” “You Belong to Me,” and “Unchained Melody” that have been nostalgic favorites for decades. Call 9115555.

‘Top Design’

The new season of “Top Design” is telecast Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on 2nd Avenue. The reality challenge’s host, India Hicks, supervises a competition that pits 13 gifted interior designers vying for the tilt’s $100,000 cash prize, among other juicy perks.