Next (2007)

“Here is the thing about the future. Every time you look at, it changes, because you looked at it, and that changes everything else.” – Cris Johnson

Number of Times Seen – Twice (3 Jun 2007 and 7 Aug 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A man with the ability to see 2 minutes into the future is sought out by government agents in order to try and stop a terrorist threat.

My Take on it – This is a film that has a great overall story and premise yet fails to find a balance that would help make the story more engaging and interesting.

The two lead actors; Nicholas Cage and Julianne Moore both feel very miscast in these roles and that hurts this film a lot.

Cage’s character should be a more sympathetic one that the viewer can care about and the way he plays this role has the opposite effect.

Moore plays her character in an overly zealous way which seems completely unnecessary and doesn’t help make things more intriguing to watch unfold.

The science of the story is presented in a very unbalanced way and they “pick and choose” which things to explain to us and which to leave too obscure which doesn’t help since the plot is already quite confusing and convoluted.

The film utilizes special effects in an interesting way in order for us to get a slight idea of what is happening even though it’s not easy to visualize everything that is happening in the character’s mind.

The casting of Jessica Biel is a bit baffling since she is completely underused and feels more like ‘eye candy’ than a character who has something to add to the story and help it find a way to have enough forward momentum.

Bottom Line – Great premise that just doesn’t work well enough here. Cage is completely miscast in this role and fails to make us care about his character at all. The science of the story is quite unbalanced because parts are explained and other parts are left untouched which helps add to the already confusing plot line. The special effects are done quite well in order for us to get a slight idea as to what is transpiring despite the difficulties of visualizing some of these scenes. Moore is also miscast in the role of the FBI agent and she seems to be unnecessarily overly zealous throughout the course of the film. Biel doesn’t have enough to do and she feels as if her character was added to the story for ‘eye candy’ purposes instead of truly helping move the story forward.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Throughout most of the film, Cage wears a gold jacket. This is a nod to the original Philip K. Dick story “The Golden Man” upon which the film is based. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)