Directed by Lee Tamahori| Written by Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
Release Date: April 27th, 2007
Jump to: Premise · Twist · Trap · Verdict
Premise
Has any sci-fi writer been more abused by Hollywood than Philip K. Dick? For every Blade Runner or Minority Report, there’s a Paycheck or Impostor. Now comes Next—a loose, lobotomized take on Dick’s short story “The Golden Man.”
Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson, a Vegas lounge magician who can see two minutes into the future. He uses it to dodge hecklers and win at blackjack—until the FBI (Julianne Moore) and nuclear terrorists both want a piece of him.
Twist
Enter Jessica Biel as Liz, the one woman who magically extends Cris’s visions beyond two minutes. Soulmate? Plot device? Both. Meanwhile, the FBI insists two-minute foresight can stop a nuke. (Spoiler: the logic collapses faster than Cage’s hairline.)
Director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day, XXX: State of the Union) brings the same energy he allegedly brought to a 2006 drag-solicitation arrest—chaotic, desperate, and deeply unserious.
Trap
Cage sleepwalks through another paycheck role, rocking a tragic long-in-back, bald-in-front mullet-wig combo that deserves its own credit. Moore looks mortified—rightfully so. Biel, fresh off Stealth and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, settles comfortably into eye-candy autopilot.
“Philip K. Dick saw the future. Hollywood keeps burying it in dumb action schlock.”
Dick’s legacy—paranoia, identity, free will—gets flattened into a Criss Angel magic trick with explosions. The film’s one clever idea (branching timelines) is teased, then abandoned for a twist so cheap it should come with a refund.
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Final Verdict
★½☆☆☆ A bald-faced assault on Philip K. Dick—and good taste.
Next? Hard pass.
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