Next with Nicolas Cage : I never knew what silliness would happen Next

Next is certainly a mixed bag! It has a very clever premise, but for the most part, it simply doesn't deliver.

Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson, a man born with a special ability. He can see two minutes into the future. Only his own future. And only two minutes. He uses it to perform a cheesy magician act, and for some petty gambling, but other than that it seems to be more an annoyance to him than anything. He just wants to live a normal life. Oddly, there is one instance in which he can see more than two minutes ahead. When it comes to visions of himself with one woman (Liz, played by Jessica Biel). In her case, he can see quite a bit more than two minutes.

Suddenly people are after Cris. Why? Because Cris's ability to see the future has come to the attention of FBI Agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore). It's never explained exactly how the FBI found out about Cris. Just accept that it happened. Well Callie's got a big problem on her hands. It seems some terrorists have stolen a nuclear bomb and plan to detonate it somewhere in the U.S. Since Callie's completely inept to solve this problem in traditional ways (she's no Jack Bauer, I guess), she decides that Cris can solve the problem for her. All she has to do is grab him and make him look into his future to figure out where the bomb's going off.

OK... Here are a few things to ponder: How, exactly, would a two minute notice help anyone? By the time Cris could envision the bomb going off, you'd only have two minutes to try to stop it. First you'd have to get to wherever it is, then you'd want to evacuate a huge area, and figure out how to stop the bomb. Face facts, two minutes is not nearly enough time. Especially when - supposedly - they didn't have any idea where in the country the bomb was. Which brings up another point... Since Cris can only see "his" future, not the future of anyone else, he could only "see" the bomb's detonation if he, personally, were involved in it, somehow. Well, he's in the desert, out west. If the bomb's in, say, Maine, he shouldn't be able to see it.

But here's my biggest problem - Cris knows the FBI is after him, and he knows why. So what does he do? He runs away! He doesn't WANT to help them. He agrees with me, that two minutes isn't really enough time, but shouldn't he want to at least TRY to help them? What kind of "hero" doesn't even TRY to help?

Well I can tell you why it was written that way - this way we get to see some really cool "tricks" that Cris can do, to avoid people who are chasing him. Seeing two minutes ahead of every scenario, he knows which way to go, exactly when to duck, and exactly when to back up an inch, to avoid a speeding bullet. It's all very cool-looking and entertaining. Even if his reluctance to help his country made no sense whatsoever.

The sad thing is, the movie continued along in exactly that manner. With completely illogical decisions, but with cool-looking tricks. There's also some absolutely gorgeous scenery, and some cheesy romantic stuff once Cris and Liz finally get together.

But there's absolutely no character development here. We have no idea how/why Cris has this ability. I would have loved some kind of explanation - like he was dropped on his head when he was a baby, or a spider bit him (oh - I guess that one's been taken), or as a child, he was kidnapped by evil scientists who experimented on his young brain. But no such explanation is given, we simply have to accept it.

We're also given absolutely no data about the terrorists. Who are they? What are they after? Who knows! Just accept them.

And, it's never explained why Cris's ability is enhanced when it comes to Liz. I suppose we're supposed to assume she's his soul mate, or his destiny, or some other such thing. But it's never explained. To me, it's just a plot device because the writers weren't clever enough to figure out how a future vision limited to only two minutes could really be exploited. Thus they needed a device (Liz) that would allow Cris to see further.

To add to all these problems, I really disliked most of the performances. Well, pretty much ALL of the performances. I normally love Nic but in this one he just looked goofy (what was with his hair???). Also, it was as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, when he sees the visions. Stand there looking perfectly normal? Or look like a deer caught in headlights? Or squeeze your eyes shut, and pretend you're straining in the worst way? So he tries all of those methods at different times.

The two ladies were no better. Biel looked pretty, but that's about all I can say for her role. Moore was just ridiculous as an FBI Agent. I'm sorry, but she just did NOT look comfortable in that role.

Overall, this movie suffers from so much silliness, that it really ruined a perfectly good premise. Yes, there are some cool action shots and some nifty computer generated special effects. And, yes, there are some times where we think we're watching "real time" but it turns out we were really watching one of Cris's visions. That device provided some entertainment. But the movie just has too many unanswered questions and too many illogical moves. Sad, because the premise was so promising. Adapted from Philip K. Dick's The Golden Man, Next is mildly entertaining, but fails on too many levels.