Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
Written By: Gary Oldman, Jonathan Hensleigh, Paul Bernbaum
Directed By: Lee Tamahori
Studio: Paramount
Buy on Amazon.com

In a world of over-the-top sci-fi action movies nowadays, it is difficult to find any merit in a lot of what Hollywood has been pumping out. Next is one of those movies that definitely stand out, despite not really breaking away from the usual explosion and effect ridden mold of most of today’s movies.

Next is the story of Cris Johnson, a Las Vegas performance magician, with the incredible ability to see two minutes into the future. The catch? He can only see two minutes into his own future, so this really only benefits him, which, to some extent, he exploits for personal gain. He is haunted by this recurring dream of a girl that he is supposed to meet at a diner at a certain time of day, despite it being much farther in the future than he is usually able to see.

After witnessing his magic act, he is approached by government agents wanting to use his abilities to track down a dirty bomb that is going to go off. He flees from them successfully, then ends up at the diner from his dreams, where the girl, Liz (Jessica Biel) finally makes her appearance. A funny scene ensues as he makes his awkward introduction to her, multiple times, with multiple outcomes. After winning her heart, they go into hiding where, of course, they are ultimately caught.

After Liz is kidnapped, his reluctance to help the government agents becomes more concern about her, so he sets out to help them find the bomb. This leads to a fairly intense scene where they are scouring a warehouse, while we see from Cris’ point of view, every possible ending to every different path that they might take.

The movie was overall some good action fluff. The ending has an interesting twist which I won’t give away, since it might be the highlight of the movie. I enjoyed it enough to watch it twice, but I am thinking it was more because of Jessica Biel. If you can let your mind wander, and not be too picky of numerous plot holes, this is definitely an enjoyable movie. Nicolas Cage definitely has a penchant for Las Vegas, and this one, despite its science fiction overtones, seems to be his best fit so far.

Features:
Making the Best Next Thing
The Next “Grand Idea”
Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel
Visualizing the Next Move

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes:
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 96 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: