 | |
List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 1023
Released: September 25, 2007 |
| Our Price: $10.26 |
| Used Price: $3.67 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret: he can see two minutes into the future. Sick of the government and scientific interest in his gift, he lies low in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.
Description of 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. --Bret Fetzer
Beyond Next
More Nick Cage on DVD | 
The Author that Inspired the Movie | 
The Soundtrack |
Stills from Next (click for larger image) Next Reviews:
Leaving Las Vegas Forever 
2008-07-06 - *SPOILERS*
Based on a story by Phillip K. Dick (probably the most frequently adapted writer of the past thirty years), "Next" starts off with what would appear to be a can't-miss, sure-fire premise. In yet another in what is fast becoming a long string of unchallenging roles, Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson, a Vegas magician with the uncanny ability to see two minutes into his own future. So far, he's used this talent only as a part of his stage act and as a means of beating the house at gambling when he heads to the local casinos. But now he's being asked by the FBI to employ his unique skill in helping to thwart a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in downtown Los Angeles. Cris, however, wants nothing whatsoever to do with saving the world (for reasons that are never made entirely convincing for the audience), so he's off and running through the greater Southwest with both the feds and the bad guys hot on his trail. It certainly doesn't help that, just on the face of it, this is probably one of the least necessary pursuits in movie history.
"Next" might have been an interesting movie had the writers found a way to really make the time-bending premise believable and compelling, instead of just using it as an excuse to get everybody zipping around in fast-moving cars. In addition, under Lee Tamahori's directorial aegis and with a screenplay concocted by no fewer than three (!) paid writers, we're treated to cardboard villains with sinister accents, chintzy production values and special effects, incoherently executed gun battle scenes, plot holes one can drive a mack truck through, and a plethora of predictable man-on-the-run, action movie cliches. Even on a plot level, this gimmicky movie rarely plays fair with its audience, having Cris perform amazing feats that have little or nothing to do with his ability to read the future. Then, in a final act of disrespect, the filmmakers tack on one of those ridiculous we-were-just-kidding-folks endings that is enough to turn a person off movies forever.
In addition to Cage, the movie wastes the considerable talents of Julianne Moore, in yet another of her hysterical, over-the-top law enforcer roles (when is she planning on appearing in a good movie again?), and Jessica Biel, who is at least appealing as the unsuspecting girl Cris drags along on his utterly pointless tri-state spree.
"Next" proves that, even for Nicholas Cage - who has hitherto done pretty well for himself with movies set in Sin City ("Leaving Las Vegas," "Honeymoon in Vegas") - Lady Luck won't always be smiling.
I have a premonition: you'll be entertained 
2008-06-23 - Cris Johnson (Nicholas Cage) is a Las Vegas magician, stage name Frank Cadillac, with a talent a little more esoteric than sleight-of-hand: he can see 2 minutes into the future. His own future. The exception is Liz (Jessica Biel). When he's around her, he can see much further.
He's been keeping a low profile, but comes to the attention of the FBI anyway. When he prevents a casino robbery, it gives Agent Ferris (Julianne Moore) the leverage to force him to work for them. See, there's this group of terrorists with a nuclear bomb....
I loved the premonition plot, and was impressed by how well the concept was portrayed on-screen, as basically imagining the consequences to each small choice and then choosing the course of action with the best outcome. The best scene depicting that is in the diner when Cris actually meets Liz, the woman he's been seeing in visions.
The action plot I wasn't quite so enthralled with. I didn't quite understand why they needed Cris's talents, and I didn't understand the terrorists' objective, and what the heck the FBI was doing to Cris with the eye clamps is a complete mystery.
The climax, however, using the precognition in an action scene, was very cool, and I enjoyed it as much as the somewhat similar scene in Morgan Hawke's novella "Fortune's Star" in the anthology Hard Candy.
I know Nicholas Cage gets on some people's nerves, and this is not the movie to change their minds. I like him. It's Julianne Moore who gets on my nerves. She seems too bland to me to be convincing as a tough FBI agent. Eh. It's personal preferences, either way. If you like both of them, you'll probably love the movie. And Jessica Biel, well, she was just there. Eye candy, I presume. I'm not the target audience there.
About what I expected 
2008-06-18 - The premise was really engaging. I like all the actors. So why isn't this better? Well, I guess I'm getting a little tired of the Cage laconic hero. It was wearing thin in Ghost Rider, and gets a little grating. It is all the more frustrating because I have seen him do so much better. Do I have to even mention Leaving Las Vegas ? I can't figure out why Julianne Moore fancies herself a "tough guy" action hero. It didn't really work in "Hannibal", and it still comes across strident and trying too hard. She does other things much much better.
As a sum, the movie has lots of people doing things that they either don't do well or shouldn't even be trying to do. This eventually overwhelms the rest of an OK movie.
A woman like Jessica Biel and a guy like Nick Cage? I don't think so.
2008-06-17 - No matter how well this plot might have been (and I must admit, it was strangely intoxicating), there is one undeniable truth that resonates from this film like the white, thick puss from a zit, and that is the fact that a guy who looks like Nicholas Cage, receding hairline and 44 years worth of aging and ape-like facial difficulties to deal with, and a gal like Miss Biel, 26 years old and quite possibly the most beautiful actress under the age of 30, would never, never, never hook up within their first six lifetimes of living together, let alone their first day together as this film tries to sell us on (I know, this is the longest run-on sentence in Amazon history). Only in Hollywood, people, only in Hollywood.
Think about it. The film spins Cage's character's advances in a funny way, but to propose that he would have a one in a billion chance with a woman so stunning was enough for me to discount anything else the film tried to peddle. I could see them becoming friends, I could see them becoming good friends, but getting their groove on within the first half-day of meeting? PaaLEASE! No way does that happen in reality. Never.
Gary Goldman, the man responsible for writing the main portions of the screenplay, is the guilty party here. He just had to take a very well-made film and throw the most unbelievable romantic plot development since Elisabeth Shue's character going for Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (I know, I'm not very nice to Cage).
That being said, that DVD box is in and of itself worth buying. My gosh, whoever marketed that shot of Jessica in that shirt should get marketing executive of the year or something.
great until the end
2008-06-16 - I loved this movie. Interesting, action-packed, funny. Until I saw the ending. Its a good thing I didn't see this in theaters because I don't think other people would've appreciated me yelling "Nooo!"
