Product Description

Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret: he can see two minutes into the future. Sick of the government and scientific interest in his gift, he lies low in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1816 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
The weirdness of actor Nicolas Cage and the weirdness of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick seem like a natural fit. The premise, taken from a short story by Dick, is a good one: A mediocre Las Vegas magician named Chris Johnson (Cage) can see into the future--but only about two minutes at the most. Just enough to pull off his act and to make some money at the gambling tables, so long as he's discreet. Unfortunately, he hasn't been discreet enough; a government agent (Julianne Moore) has sussed out his precognitive talent and wants to use him to track down terrorists. But all Johnson cares about is a beautiful young woman (Jessica Biel, The Illusionist) that he can see in his future--much further in his future than he's ever seen before. Next has flashes that point to a much, much better movie than it turned out to be. A sequence in which Johnson, clairvoyantly explores all the different permutations of how he might approach his mystery woman is both funny and thought-provoking, and when Johnson avoids pursuers by knowing just the right moment to turn a corner or duck his head, it's smart and suspenseful. Unfortunately, the terrorist part of the plot is utterly perfunctory and precognition is reduced to an action movie gimmick. Somewhere in there is the kernel of a romantic comedy about precognition that's just waiting to be made. Cage gives a solid if unsurprising performance, Moore is basically earning a paycheck, but Biel is unexpectedly good (and her part is considerably better-written than your usual romantic interest); her performance suggests a better future than anyone might have predicted. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Next

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Customer Reviews

Interesting Premise--Makes the Book Appealing
I had completely missed Next when it was in the theaters and even when it hit DVD. I'm not sure how I became aware of it, but I saw it, read about it, and the premise intrigued me.

The movie is essentially about a Vegas magician (Nicholas Cage) that can see 2 minutes into the future. He, of course, uses this to his advantage during his magic shows. This come to the attention of an FBI agent (Julianne Moore) who is trying to discover where a terrorist group is hiding a nuclear bomb. To add to the whole adventure, Nicholas' character can see farther than 2 minutes in the future with regards to one individual (Jessica Biel's character).

The plot was very good, and I enjoyed the movie completely throughout. The ending was a little shocking, and actually left me wanting more... whether that is a good thing or not you can decide. In my case, I felt like it wasn't.

All in all, definitely a movie worth watching, especially for those that enjoy movies along these lines.

Mind Bending
This film was on par with the Matrix and others of the genre. Well acted, of course, with Nicolas Cage in the lead.

I can't understand why we didn't see anything about the film when it was released?

Larry

NEXT time....
A cool twist to time travel. Keeps you stuck to the story and hopeful all the way to the end. For both Cage and for Biel.