‘Next’: We see
a bad experience

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

Next is a movie that leaves you feeling cheated out of more than the few bucks you paid to see it. Those involved who worked half-heartedly to make this film entertaining throw it all away in the last five minutes.
If you don’t feel cheated, you will at least feel tricked. I think the ending is supposed to be the definition of a plot twist, but it fails miserably.
In Next, Nicolas Cage’s character Cris Johnson can see two minutes into his future. After two minutes of reading this review, you’ll know that seeing Next is a waste of time.
With his film adapted from Philip K. Dick’s story The Golden Man, director Lee Tamahori tries to turn this time-travel story into an action flick with guns, chases and big explosions.
Cris makes his living using his powers as a magician in Las Vegas. He makes a little extra cash hitting the casinos, since he always knows which slot machine is about to make him a winner and how to beat the house in card games. This all is sort of interesting and even a little funny. When casino security becomes suspicious of Cris, watching him try to swiftly duck out and elude the big security guards is one of the best parts of the film.
Unfortunately, the movie turns into a bad action flick when the FBI, led by agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), decides that Cris is the one person who can save Los Angeles from a nuclear terrorist attack. What Ferris doesn’t realize is that Cris’ powers are selfish. He can only see two minutes into his future. If the terrorist attack doesn’t affect him, he can’t do anything about it. So, of course, the writers find a way to make the terrorist attack affect him, but I won’t spoil it.
There is one scenario in which he has been able to see further than two minutes. That is why he goes to a coffee shop at the same time every day and waits for a beautiful woman, Liz (Jessica Biel), that he sees in his visions. When she finally shows up, Cris uses his powers to play through every scenario he can think of to casually meet this woman until he determines the one that will result in a positive outcome.
Knowing the FBI wants his help in matters of national security sends Cris running away, and Liz is perfectly willing to go on a road trip with a strange older man she just met. Liz finds herself inexplicably drawn to Cris. It’s inexplicable to me why these two were even paired up — they have absolutely no chemistry.
As in a lot of his movies, Cage just goes through the motions. I never believed for a minute that his character was troubled by the powers he was born with, even though the script wants me to think that. When Cris uses his powers early on, he’s having fun. They help him make a living and they help him find the girl of his dreams. The girl of his dreams also seems to be going through the motions. Biel doesn’t add anything more than a pretty face.
There’s no meaning behind the nameless foreign terrorists who want to blow up Los Angeles. Agent Ferris doesn’t care about Intel. She doesn’t care about protocol. She wants Cris — and Cris alone — to save one of the country’s biggest cities from destruction.
The film’s creators seem to have some powers of their own. They knew enough to release Next right before the summer blockbusters blew this film away, so that some bored moviegoers might take a chance on it.
It’s just too bad that you have to seriously be able to suspend belief — and even disbelief — to enjoy this ridiculous movie. It’s fun for a few minutes, but sadly, even during the moments when Next is slightly good, there aren’t enough of those moments to make it worth seeing. ••
Movie Grade: D