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Cage Tosses in Quirkiness to Save"Next"

Written by STEVIE STYLES

Thursday, 04 October 2007

Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson, a cheesy two bit Vegas magician with the stage name Frank Cadillac. Cris has a secret, his act is not one of illusion and slight of hand but a real gift. He has the ability to see two minutes in the future but here’s the rub, only his future. At times this is a true gift but more so then not it’s a curse.

Next

Entertainment

Art

Special Features

Directed by Lee Tamahori
Written by Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh, Paul Bernbaum and based on the novel by Philip K. Dick
Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel and Thomas Kretschmann, Tory Kittles
Rated PG-13

Lately however, he’s been seeing farther into the future, a single vision of a beautiful woman at a diner who will come into his life. So he waits to find out his destiny, as he slowly falls in love with her vision. As Cris waits to learn his fate, the FBI is hot on his trail to use his power to stop a terrorist group from detonating a nuclear bomb some where in Los Angeles. Oh and these terrorists are also on his trail to take him out before he foils their dastardly plans.

So sets up a race against time, non-stop action thriller that is part sci-fi, part action and all Nicolas Cage. Cage has fun playing the lost soul persona (that he plays so well) who uses his powers just enough to fly under the radar and longs for a purpose and a future that he can’t predict. Think Groundhog Day but with CGI and a much hotter love interest.

Speaking of the love interest, Jessica Biel’s plays her part perfect, looking pretty yet still playing it smart and intelligent. You got to give her some credit with her performance and you almost believe she could fall for the bad hair and at times creepy Cris Johnson. Seriously, why is Cage’s hair so bad in this film?

Out now on DVD, Next arrives with very few extras on the disc. There’s no commentary and only a few documentaries to give you a hint into the process of making this complex movie. Where are the deleted scenes or outtakes from the film? You know there has to be a blooper reel some where. Hell, I just want a documentary on Cage’s hair or perhaps a behind the scenes of how they kept Biel’s towel on. Regardless, my point is the extras suck, plain and simple.

The movie survives because of the performances of Cage and Biel and if you roll with the storyline, Next is the perfect popcorn movie. It’s like last year’s Denzel Washington’s movie Déjà, but more kitsch but equally absurd and unrealistic.

So if you’re a fan of the quirky Cage, then this is worth picking up or at least renting, but if not then you too will be seeing your future, and you won’t like it.

Comments

this movie sucks.
Written by Guest on 2007-10-05 11:53:57

Horrible flick, and Cage needs a flippin haircut!