Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, and some language.
96 Minutes

Directed By: Lee Tamahori
Written By: Gary Goldman and Jonathan Hensleigh
Staring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jim Beaver, Tory Kittles, and José Zúñiga

I’ve seen every possible ending. None of them are good for you. -Cris Johnson

Review:

C’mon Nic Cage!  What are you doing to me lately?  I can’t write a single nice review about you!  Don’t you have another Leaving Las Vegas or Raising Arizona in you?  I know the talent is there, but it feels like his choices in movies lately are completely arbitrary.  Both Cage and Julianne Moore were far too talented for the direction and script of Next, though it seemed about par for JessicaBiel .  Perhaps she and William Baldwin would have made more of a guilty pleasure rather than a film that took itself too seriously and really had no right to.

"Why do I feel like Gary Busey?"

A middle aged man passing his days working in a casino posing as a “magic” man, can see two minutes into the future.  When his power is revealed in an incident in the casino, special agents search him out in the hope to utilize his abilities to stop a terrorist from nuking the western hemisphere.  Meanwhile, theclairvoyant talent was to avoid anything to do with the government as he feels it will put him in harms way, but his goals and theirs soon come to a head and decisions have to be made to save the world or save the girl.

The overall acting involved wasn’t an atrocity, but the dialogue was painful to the extent that no one was going to believe the characters were saying any of the ridiculous things that were flying from their mouths, just as their reactions were completely unrealistic.  These are extraordinary circumstances, so I give a little in the realism category, but Fair Game with William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford was more down to earth than this flick was.

The two minute foresight was initially disorienting though in later scenes it came together nicely.  Even the positive growth on that end was met by a constant strange pacing that left each scene feeling choppy.  The baffling directions the story takes aren’t necessarily predictable but they certainly don’t make any sense either.  The future moments are used a lot, but only at the seemingconvenience to trick the audience rather than to apply to the conflict the main character is constantly going through.

The ending was by far the worst part.  The anti-climax and obvious option the story took was such an incredibly simple cop out and insult to the viewer that it madeRoseanne’s series finale seem Oscar worthy.  With the element of sacrifice being dismissed, it made the rest of what happened in the movie completely irrelevant and the option for are-watch (should anyone be glutton for such punishment) pointless.

Next is completely forgettable, or at least I hope I forget about it.  It’s villains were tools with sunglasses and capricious in their most elemental nature.  The only people who will enjoy this movie are probably fans of JessicaBiel, and even them I feel pity for having to sit through the portions where she isn’t exuding hotness.  I really despise would a good concept is so thoughtlessly contrived together.  This film felt lazy and without much thought.  At it’s end the only emotion it inspired was regret and detest.

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