Next

The Bigger Picture:  Once, long ago, Cage won an Oscar. Really, he did, for Leaving Las Vegas. Remember? It's hard to, 'cause he keeps doing, um, how should we put this...crap. Sure, he's taken some risks, but for every Adaptation there's three Ghost Riders. He's now the proud owner of a new genre of films: Cheesy Nic Cage Action Flicks.

His latest chunk of fromage is the Philip K. Dick-inspired Next. Dick may have written some pretty brilliant stories, but some of the resultant movies are not (Paycheck, anyone?) so brilliant. Next falls right into that category.

Cris (Cage) can see two minutes into the future; somehow, the FBI got wise on him, and a shrill agent (a surprisingly one-note Julianne Moore) is on his trail. See, there's a nuke missing, and maybe Cris can tell the feds where it'll explode before it actually does and save the world! In the meantime, Cris falls for a girl (Jessica Biel) who gets caught up in the whole mess, and naturally, those crazy Russian (or French?) terrorists who stole the nuke are tailing him, too.

At first, it's fun to watch the players milk the high concept. But when all three entities—feds, terrorists, clairvoyant—collide, things get Serious, even though completely absurd events (not the least of which is Biel's gorgeous, lissome Liz sleeping with a dirty, creepy Cris) keep occurring. The wooden, earnest dialogue sharply contrasts with the logistical flights of fancy, and it's clear at that point the movie quits having fun with itself.

Next recovers a little bit toward the end with a clever action-filled set piece, but not enough to warrant a trip to the theater. Someday, one late Friday night, this thing will show up on some cable channel, and then all will be right in the world.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  Whether it's Gruyère or Velveeta, cheese can be good, right? Enough clever moments and funny one-liners keep the pace moving and the action humming. And, yes, Nic needs to fire his agent, but at least he gives every role he takes everything he's got.