| Product: |
Next (DVD) |
| Date: |
10/06/07 (213 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: enjoyable sequences when protagonist visualizes potential future events
Disadvantages: plot like a colander
96 mins
Lee Tamahori — director
Nicolas Cage — Cris Johnson
Julianne Moore — Callie Ferris
Jessica Biel — Liz
Thomas Kretschmann — Mr. Smith
Tory Kittles — Cavanaugh
José Zúñiga — Security Chief Roybal
Jim Beaver — JTTF Director Eric Wisdom
Jason Butler Harner — Jeff Baines
Michael Trucco — Kendal
Enzo Cilenti — Mr. Jones
Laetitia Danielle — Miss Brown
Nicolas Pajon — Mr. Green
Sergej Trifunovic — Mr. White
Peter Falk — Irv
Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson (similarly missing an h in his first name), a stage magician & blackjack player in Sin City, down at heel & down in the mouth. His low-key magic act is unappreciated by his small audiences; & he always wins at cards, but not large amounts. He is hoping to avoid attention.
But he has attracted the interest of FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore). She has been watching Johnson’s stage show & his card-playing, &, when he foils an intended robbery by disarming the crook before he can even draw his gun, she is able to deduce his concealed gift: he can see 2 minutes into the future.
This is quite an imaginative leap by Ferris, to put it mildly, & her boss is sceptical. All the same, she & a posse of agents proceed to pursue Johnson in order to enlist his aid in stopping some Euro terrorists from detonating a smuggled nuclear bomb in LA (for some reason). Johnson is reluctant to help (for some reason), & the FBI chase him from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. Along the way Johnson has hooked up with Liz (Jessica Biel), whose presence (for some reason) has the effect of magnifying his talent for prophesy, so that he can see further into the future.
Like many another high-concept movie (‘Blade Runner’, ‘Minority Report’, ‘Total Recall’) ‘Next’ is adapted from a Philip K Dick short story. ‘The Golden Man’ is about a ruthless gilt-skinned pre-cog in a post-apocalyptic future where mutants are starting to supersede Homo Sapiens. Apart from the rather odd topaz hue of Cage’s skin — & I wasn’t sure whether this was its natural colour or cosmetically applied — very little survives the translation from page to screen except PKD’s description of our hero’s talent: he’s like a skilful chess-player, able to read the game 5 moves in advance.
It is several weeks since I saw this film but the scenes where Johnson predicts possible outcomes, enabling him to modify his behaviour & stay ahead of everyone else, haven’t faded in my mind. Thus, in an amusing scene reminiscent of ‘Groundhog Day’, he evaluates possible pick-up lines to Liz by previewing her responses to them until he finds an approach that won’t lead to rejection. He evades capture by casino security guards & the FBI because he always knows what they’re going to do before they do it. And, taking on the bad guys, he avoids bullets by being elsewhere as they pass by.
Johnson is a subdued, detached figure initially who becomes more engaged with life as he leads the FBI against the armed-to-the-teeth baddies. Cage, muting his customary mannered style, is excellent. I’d have been interested in finding out more about what it’s like to be someone for whom life holds few surprises, but this isn’t that sort of film. The sunny ethereality that served Biel well in ‘The Illusionist’ is fine here too. Moore, however, is wasted in her role. In movies like ‘The Hours’ & ‘Far From Heaven’ her performances are beautifully nuanced; she conveys complex emotions with flickering changes in her facial expression: less is Moore. Here, reprising Clarice Starling & playing a flak-jacketed fed & frowning non-stop, her economy of means achieves a matching economy of effect.
Since his stunning debut ‘Once Were Warriors’, the output of Kiwi director Lee Tamahori has been uneven in quality. His last film was ‘xXx: State of the Union’, which so far I’ve managed to avoid. He handles the action sequences energetically in ‘Next’, but if you can’t switch off your brain you’ll find yourself distracted by a long list of questions that the plot signally fails to answer:
-- How does Ferris fathom Johnson’s unique talent?
-- Why does she assume that his ability to see 2 minutes ahead will stop the terrorists?
-- Who are these incredibly well-armed terrorists with their generic Euro accents & ‘Reservoir Dogs’ style names anyway, & why do they want to nuke LA?
-- How does proximity to Liz increase Johnson’s power?
-- What the hell is the point of Peter Falk’s cameo as a character named Irv?
There are plenty more where these came from.
The special effects are up to the job, & the film finishes with a twist that is audacious or silly or both.
This isn’t a great film by a long chalk but it’s never boring. And it’s intermittently clever enough to make you realize how much better it could have been. 3 stars, just about.
Summary: flawed but diverting thriller
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