“Next” (Paramount Pictures)
Another Weak Link In Cage’s Career Chain
Nicolas Cage is a complete mystery to me. He can be engaging and charismatic or he can be quirky and boring. He goes from one extreme to the other. When he first started his career I dismissed him as being an untalented kook. I even disliked his performance in “Leaving Las Vegas” for which he won an Oscar. But then he entered his action hero phase and I began to see some worth in his performances. But now he is back to being boring with roles in such losers as “Ghost Rider” and now “Next.” It looks like he is on a downhill slide that can’t be stopped.
“Next” starts off promisingly with Cage appearing as Cris Johnson, a magician who can see two minutes into his future. That is sort of an intriguing idea. Then he has a vision of Liz Cooper (Jessica Biehl) and it is even farther into the future than two minutes. He starts tracking her down because he feels their destinies are entwined.
While he is looking for Liz, the FBI headed by Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) is looking for him. She needs his “talent” to help them find a nuclear bomb that they think will be detonated in California.
All of this falls apart early on but at least it stays somewhat interesting until it reaches the worst ending a movie has had in years. You leave the theater shaking your head in disbelief and feeling totally ripped off.
Cage does not do a good job of creating the character of Cris Johnson and Moore looks foolish and embarrassed to be appearing in such a waste of time. Only Jessica Biehl comes out of this unscathed. She looks great and has a sympathetic role in the movie.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Peter Falk makes a cameo appearance early in the movie and it is good to see him back on screen. Still even he has so little to do that he might as well have stayed at home. In this movie Cage contaminates everyone who is around him – except Biehl.
It isn’t that Cage is a bad actor; he is a creepy actor. All those mannerisms and stilted actions just get on your nerves. What happened to the action hero from “Con Air” Or the solid actor from “Face/Off” There should be some good performances left in him but time is running out. The public only has so much patience.
I scored “Next” a next to nothing 3 out of 10.
