Movie Title: Next (2007)
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann
Directors: Lee Tamahori
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Run Time: 96 minutes
Movie Description
Next. The weirdness of actor Nicolas Cage and the weirdness of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick seem like a natural fit. The premise, taken from a short story by Dick, is a good one: A mediocre Las Vegas magician named Chris Johnson (Cage) can see into the future–but only about two minutes at the most. Just enough to pull off his act and to make some money at the gambling tables, so long as he’s discreet. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been discreet enough; a government agent (Julianne Moore) has sussed out his precognitive talent and wants to use him to track down terrorists. But all Johnson cares about is a beautiful young woman (Jessica Biel, The Illusionist) that he can see in his future–much further in his future than he’s ever seen before. Next has flashes that point to a much, much better movie than it turned out to be. A sequence in which Johnson, clairvoyantly explores all the different permutations of how he might approach his mystery woman is both funny and thought-provoking, and when Johnson avoids pursuers by knowing just the right moment to turn a corner or duck his head, it’s smart and suspenseful. Unfortunately, the terrorist part of the plot is utterly perfunctory and precognition is reduced to an action movie gimmick. Somewhere in there is the kernel of a romantic comedy about precognition that’s just waiting to be made. Cage gives a solid if unsurprising performance, Moore is basically earning a paycheck, but Biel is unexpectedly good (and her part is considerably better-written than your usual romantic interest); her performance suggests a better future than anyone might have predicted.
Movie Review
While I’ve never read the Philip Dick story this movie is based on, I’ll have to say this story has some strong points on its own. Nicolas Cage is great as “Frank Cadillac” or Chris, as he prefers to be called. He can see two minutes into his own future, and this opens some interesting possibilities. It’s funny to see him run through several different pick up scenarios before finally finding one that will work with Jessica Biel. This ability also saves his life several times.
The storyline moves along at a good pace. While there are some boring scenes, there are enough “Wow!” moments to keep you hooked until the end. Ah, the end…there’s our problem. In an attempt to pull out a great plot twist, we end up with a very cheated feeling. It’s almost as if we don’t get to see how it all ultimately works out. This could have been fixed with about 5 minutes more screen time, but we don’t get it. I’m pretty sure the DVD will probably have an alternate ending in there somewhere because I can’t believe this is how they originally envisioned it.
As a whole, this was a good movie and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t perfect, and seemed to stumble under the weight of its plot a couple of times (who were the terrorists? where did they get the bomb? Why would a woman like Jessica Biel agree to drive a man she’d just met across the desert…especially when the guy looked like a psycho?), but it was worth the time it takes to watch it. Very strong overall. –by Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA)
Plot Synopsis
Cris Johnson reads minds, or so he leads everyone to believe, what he really does is see around 2 minutes into the future and can change events to pan out a more positive way, but only his future.
When a nuclear threat is discovered on American soil, the FBI discover his gift and want him to help track down the terrorists. He has plans of his own however, he saw a lot further than 2 minutes at one point and it involved his future girlfriend Jessica. Knowing the location of their meeting he goes there every day with hopes that its going to be “the day” she walks into his life.
As the FBI close onto his location though, so do the terrorists who also have intel of his gift and want him dead. Unfortunatly for Cris he remains alive while his girlfriend is captured by the terrorists and has to aid the FBI in finding them both after all, before its too late.
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