Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very strong overall, April 27, 2007
While I've never read the Philip Dick story this movie is based on, I'll have to say this story has some strong points on its own. Nicolas Cage is great as "Frank Cadillac" or Chris, as he prefers to be called. He can see two minutes into his own future, and this opens some interesting possibilities. It's funny to see him run through several different pick up scenarios before finally finding one that will work with Jessica Biel. This ability also saves his life several times.
The storyline moves along at a good pace. While there are some boring scenes, there are enough "Wow!" moments to keep you hooked until the end.
Ah, the end...there's our problem. In an attempt to pull out a great plot twist, we end up with a very cheated feeling. It's almost as if we don't get to see how it all ultimately works out. This could have been fixed with about 5 minutes more screen time, but we don't get it. I'm pretty sure the DVD will probably have an alternate ending in there somewhere because I can't believe this is how they originally envisioned it.
As a whole, this was a good movie and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, and seemed to stumble under the weight of its plot a couple of times (who were the terrorists? where did they get the bomb? Why would a woman like Jessica Biel agree to drive a man she'd just met across the desert...especially when the guy looked like a psycho?), but it was worth the time it takes to watch it.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"With freedom comes responsibility.", August 3, 2007
Next brings to the screen the story of Chris Johnson, a.k.a. Frank Cadillac, a down-on-his-luck onstage Las Vegas magician with a rare gift: to be able to see two minutes into the future! Things "liven up" when a government agent in her effort to find a group of terrorists aiming at detonating a nuclear bomb somewhere in the United States attempts to enlist Chris Johnson who seems to be rather preoccupied with other matters...
There are slight hints of the X-Files, Deja Vu (Denzel Washington), Frequency (Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel), Timecop (Van Damme) and The Lake House (Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock).
Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, and the rest of the cast, have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide more than just a few thrills.
The only major setback is in relation to those "geniuses" that came up with the French-speaking Europeans as the villains and with no explanation whatsoever as to their motive! It's not as if there aren't enough prospective terrorists out there, they're lining up for crying out loud, so why go with some of the most unlikely candidates?
What European would even bother to act as such in reality???
Nevertheless, the setting, the plot, the dialogues, and the music are all good.
In conclusion, Next is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection as it is one of those films that gets you and keeps you thinking long after it's over. 4.5 Stars
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
SCI-FI THROWAWAY CANDY TOO LUDICROUS FOR ITS OWN PANTS, BUT A FROLIC NONETHELESS, May 13, 2007
This is your Swiss-cheese thriller for the summer of 2007. You know, with so many holes that they're almost par for the course, but the overall experience is one of momentary delight anyway. You savor it, then you go on your merry way. Suspend disbelief for best results.
The whole crux of the movie is the FBI's frenetic hunt for a bunch of handsome European miscreants (sporting a bouquet of dialects) who're about to detonate a nuclear warhead in or around LA. The reason? Not sure. Perhaps to make a big bada boom. Perhaps to look real scary. We will never know, nor, I suspect, would the FBI team from the film. But that's not to stop them from acting all pensive and thriller-like. It showers much of the spotlight on light humor involving the protagonist and his love interest instead. He's a magician with a special skill that you should find out for yourself, and she's, well, magical. Some liberal scatter-shot editing follows, but it's a fun ride. The visuals of the Grand Canyon (that's what they were I presume?) are breathtaking. The ending credits roll does justice to the theme, and may get a final round of laughter.
There is no way this film merits a serious review, but I will take the time to report one serious gripe: the hairstyles! Tom Hanks may have done an enormous disfavor to the cinematic community by sporting his little rumpled tuft in Da Vinci Code, which seems to have taken off -- Jim Carrie in 23, and now Nicholas Cage here. Time for some scissors, Hollywood! As for Julianne Moore, she's an actress in such fine form that although she's evidently in the middle of something goofy she brings to it the kind of pizazz one would expect from an actual blockbuster.
Don't confuse the film with Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, be prepared for a pastime flick at the intellectual caliber of National Treasure, get your Coke and choco-chip icecream, and buckle up to enjoy a basically senseless ride.
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