Good — A reasonable Plan B pick if you’re at the store and nothing else grabs your attention
Next is one of the better exploitation movies based–very loosely–on the pillaged name and works of Phillip K. Dick (PKD). I usually have a special whip set aside for this particular sin. It’s an assault on an author I respect and my favorite movie of all time, Blade Runner, which actually surpasses the very good PKD novel that inspired it.
What makes Next tolerable is how far removed it is from PKD’s short story, The Golden Man; it’s really just a regular action/chase film with a psychic twist. Nick Cage can see two minutes into the future and tries to live in obscurity with his Vegas magic act until FBI agent Julianne Moore decides she needs his help to stop a nuclear terrorist attack. She’s not the love interest: We get the not-from-Flashdance Jessica Biel as the damsel in distress. Meh. I was more excited to see Peter Falk shuffle through a scene. Some entertaining moments and understated special effects give this otherwise fair affair a leg up to good.
Cage is tolerable in the film, but Moore needs to say no to any more FBI agent roles. She made a lackluster Clarice Starling and similarly just doesn’t fit into this undemanding character’s shoes. She’s no Kyle MacLachlan: He had a run of FBI agent roles that produced some real entertainment like Twin Peaks and The Hidden before it.
Actually, grab The Hidden if you’re heading to the store or updating your queue. 100% cult classic alien cop body snatcher buddy chase flick. If it’s not there, consider Next if you don’t feel like trying to catch it on basic cable.