Next (2007)

Next is another of those movies that have been on my watchlist since the dawn of times because of Julianne Moore but kept putting off because it's a Nicolas Cage flick, and I have to be in the right mood and mentally prepared to deal with the insanity of them. 

This one follows Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage), a small-time magician who can see a few minutes into the future. There's an exception though as he once had a vision of a beautiful woman (Jessica Biel) walking into a diner at 8 and he makes it his mission to be there and meet her. In the meantime, a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles so the FBI, led by Agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), tries to capture Cris and convince him to help them prevent the attack. 

Just in case you were afraid there was not enough going on, there's also a subplot about the terrorist group wanting to capture Cris because the FBI wants to capture him and therefore he gotta be some secret weapon of the Feds'. It makes sense, right? Well, no, it doesn't. The plot is just a ridiculous mess, with holes the size of moon craters, unsurprising twists and a romance because, you know, it's Hollywood. That said, Next tends to keep you entertained. 

And it sure does have a lot to do with Nicolas Cage being the lead. While his character is awful, a one-dimensional creepy dude, Cage gives yet another of his unintentionally funny performances —or maybe it's intentional, who knows, this is the guy who bought an octopus to improve his acting, after all—, a blend of unconvincing, weird and often out of place expressions, melodrama and cheesiness. And the way this guy delivers his lines, absolutely hilarious.

Paramount Pictures 

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is not as fun as Cage to watch. Julianne Moore looks completely disinterested, bored out of her mind with her characters, a role that should have been played by a way less talented actress. Jessica Biel is utterly unconvincing as the love interest and the chemistry she has with Cage is so cheesy/soap opera stuff, but I guess nobody cares about that since she's in here only for the eye candy. And Thomas Kretschmann plays a Russian terrorist who speaks with a French accent. So there's that.

In terms of action, Next is a disaster. The action sequences just don't make any sense whatsoever, and when they do make little sense, there's usually some pretty bad and cheesy special effects to ruin them.