Next (2007)

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers (WGA):

Gary Goldman (screenplay) and
Jonathan Hensleigh (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

If you can see the future, you can save it.

Plot:

A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.

Plot Keywords:

Magician | FBI Agent | FBI | Starbucks | Brenners Orange Juice

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Feb. 13	8:30 PM	FX
Sun. Feb. 14	7:00 AM	FX

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Nicolas Cage	...	Cris Johnson
Julianne Moore	...	Callie Ferris
Jessica Biel	...	Liz Cooper
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Mr. Smith
Tory Kittles	...	Cavanaugh
José Zúñiga	...	Security Chief Roybal (as Jose Zuniga)
Jim Beaver	...	Wisdom
Jason Butler Harner	...	Jeff Baines
Michael Trucco	...	Kendall
Enzo Cilenti	...	Mr. Jones
Laetitia Danielle	...	Miss Brown
Nicolas Pajon	...	Mr. Green
Sergej Trifunovic	...	Mr. White
Charles Chun	...	Davis
Patricia Prata	...	Showgirl

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, and some language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Norway:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42014) | Malaysia:U | Denmark:11 | Sweden:11 | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 | South Africa:10V (DVD rating) | UK:12 (DVD rating) | UK:12A (original rating) | South Africa:13V (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIA | Argentina:13 | Italy:T | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

Trivia:

All three helicopters (2 black, one white) are Eurocopter (nee Aerospatiale) AS-350 Ecureuils (Squirrels). The N-numbers were all sequential as well - N350SC, N351SC, and N352SC.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sniper twice tries to make a cell phone call. Both times he gets three tones and a recorded message telling him, "Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Check the number and dial again." Between attempts his phone's LCD reports "NO SERVICE" because previously all cell service was shut down. Such recordings can only come from the service; they're not embedded in every handset.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Emcee: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the man who knows what you're going to do before you do it. The amazing Frank Cadillac!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Asi Sera

Entertainginly pedestrian, could have been so much better.

Oh Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, why can't you invest just a little of the millions of dollars you obviously put into special effects, paying for Nicolas Cage and the rest into a decent story ? Next has a brilliant premise, which is what drew me to it in the first place (and some misleadingly good reviews on here !) but it's such a let down. Entertaining enough if all your simple brain demands is yet another guy on the run with FBI, must stop bad guys, explosions and chases type film to add to the identikit hundred or so you've probably seen already. But you'd expect a little bit more than utterly pedestrian with Mr Cage and Miss Moore at the helm. It doesn't deliver.

Things start out well enough, but then they always do with these types of films. We're introduced to Cage's character and how the rules of his future seeing world operate through an entertaining spin through Las Vegas. Then things start to go wrong.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So my first gripe; the terrorists. They're French. What ? . I mean, great break out of film stereotypes and don't make all terrorists Muslims. But I expect some credibility and backstory for the ludicrous notion that French terrorists want to blow up LA with a nuclear bomb. We're never told and it's never explained. What a load of rubbish, why not make them Canadian or from Iceland, makes about as much sense. You've got to lose bucket loads of respect for a film and the imaginary world it's trying to create for two hours with a plot hole this stupid.

But it's symptomatic of the lazy storytelling that is such a letdown in this film. The 'rules' of Cage's future seeing universe are explained to us and then conveniently broken whenever a deux et machina plot moment requires it at will. But at this point it's all gotten a bit silly and I've given up caring. Except maybe to wonder why Julianne Moore thinks it's worth wasting her time with this sort of stuff. Can't she get any better work? Oh and the 'twist' at the end. For a moment I thought they we're actually going to do something clever. No, it just gets sillier as yet again they arbitrarily break with the rules they've created. No French terrorists waiting this time, though there should be.

Yes, it's entertaining enough, if that's all you want but disappointing in so many areas.

It makes you wonder if Hollywood is such a dog eat dog world where only the most talented survive how it can turn out so many dogs of films like this. An internet forum of movie buffs could have rewritten this into something so much better.