2007   USA Next
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Director:Lee Tamahori
Studio:Paramount
Writer:Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh
IMDb Rating:6.1 (58,063 votes)
Awards:1 win & 3 nominations
Genre:Action, Romance, Sci-Fi
Duration:96 min
Languages:English
IMDb:0435705
Amazon:B000TGJ8CQ
Search:NetflixYouTube
Lee Tamahori  ...  (Director)
Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh  ...  (Writer)
 
Nicolas Cage  ...  Cris Johnson
Julianne Moore  ...  Callie Ferris
Jessica Biel  ...  Liz Cooper
Thomas Kretschmann  ...  Mr. Smith
Tory Kittles  ...  Cavanaugh
José Zúñiga  ...  Security Chief Roybal (as Jose Zuniga)
Jim Beaver  ...  Wisdom
Jason Butler Harner  ...  Jeff Baines
Michael Trucco  ...  Kendall
Enzo Cilenti  ...  Mr. Jones
Laetitia Danielle  ...  Miss Brown
Nicolas Pajon  ...  Mr. Green
Sergej Trifunovic  ...  Mr. White
Charles Chun  ...  Davis
Patricia Prata  ...  Showgirl
Charles Rahi Chun  ...  Davis
David Tattersall  ...  Cinematographer
Comments: If you can see the future, you can save it.

Summary: 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)































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