A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack. Source
More than just magic 🪄🔮
It is amazing how so many worthwhile films have been able to slip under my radar over the years. Next featuring Nicolas Cage and Jessica Biel is one of those gems that has been buried under the infinite number of engaging movies that are readily available to stream. Originally released back in 2007, this one not only aged well but was yet again one of my favorite films I've seen in quite a while. What a shame that it took me nearly 15 years to discover Next. Then again I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to fully appreciate what this film offers back in high school. It is becoming more apparent after each Cage film that I watch that he is one of my favorite actors of all time, or should I say favorite thespian of all time.
If you can see the future, you can save it ⏳👀
Nic Cage's character in Next is named Cris Johnson. He may not be superhuman, but he is much more equipped than the average person to be successful in life. Cris is able to see the future, but only as far as two minutes ahead of time. It is an interesting skill to possess and not being able to see far into the future keeps it from being an overpowered ability. This type of thing makes you wonder if this may be something that people in real life are able to do.
Cris takes advantage of his skill by working a gig as a magician in Vegas. It is not a dream job by any means, but it allows him to stay under the radar about his ability to see the future. It also helps that Vegas is a hot spot for gambling, which of course leads to counting cards. He must be careful not to win too much though, otherwise, casino management will surely not be happy about his unfair advantage.
Cris is able to see pretty much everything coming his way. One thing that he constantly sees yet has no explanation for is Jessica Biel's character, Liz Cooper. Cris has the same vision of seeing Liz for the first time at a diner. So instead of missing an opportunity to meet his dream girl, he visits the same diner at the same time every single day and waits to see if it will finally be the day that Liz arrives.
Once the vision finally becomes a reality and Liz shows up, Cris is then tasked with not messing up his opportunity. Just because he sees Liz constantly does not mean that she has ever seen him. Cris goes through line after line and constantly fails to swoon Liz. It is quite comical how desperate he is to get her. Eventually, her crazy ex-boyfriend shows up, and Cris figures out what he can do to gain Liz's approval. You will surely laugh at what role Cris decides to play in order to persuade Liz to give him a chance.
Cris and Liz happen to be headed in the same direction, so he gets lucky and hitches a ride with her. Things get awkward quickly and she comes close to leaving him on the side of the road. They do not fall for each other right away, but you can feel the connection starting to show itself gradually.
Once Liz starts to see just how impressive of a human being Cris is, she of course starts to take a liking towards him. He is able to do some pretty unthinkable things and she doesn't understand how. This phantasm allows Cris to get closer and closer with Liz.
The entire time that Cris and Liz are spending time together on the road, he is also avoiding the FBI and their desire to use his skill to their advantage. Cris has remained unseen his entire life and prefers to keep it that way. It is only a matter of time before Liz starts to find out what is going on in Cris's life and the next thing you know she is part of it all.
Cris remains confident that he and Liz will avoid capture. All it takes is for another party to enter the equation and things get even stickier. Liz and Cris get separated and his goal becomes saving her rather than saving himself.
It is so satisfying to watch Cris narrowly avoid the authorities as they hunt him. Being able to see everything coming, even if only two minutes ahead of time, really is a big advantage. Scene after scene unfolds and Cris can be seen checking his watch constantly to nail down the timing of his precise actions.
Cris's infatuation with Liz leads him to trouble eventually. The FBI never gives up and their tactics and volume of agents make it impossible for Cris to evade them forever. Their idea of his ability is slightly off though. They assume that he can see anything in the future, but that is far from the truth. Once Cris becomes involved in saving the city from destruction, he learns more about himself and his skill.
Next does a fantastic job of making Nic Cage look like an absolute badass. He has so many near misses that are very pleasing to witness. Sniper shots, tumbling vehicles, and more become obstacles for Cris to avoid. These moments were my favorite parts of this film, I think you will probably agree with me.
Cris hasn't been a fighter all of his life, but he is up to the task when his and Liz's life depends on it. Even though he is not invincible, his ability to see what is coming makes it pretty hard for anybody to one-up him.
After the FBI realizes that Cris is finally down to help, they remove all restrictions from him. Somehow he is given the okay to command the team of tactical soldiers. It is comical to see a random magician telling a team of highly trained SWAT operatives what to do.
Cris's ability explodes into usefulness whenever he only has a short amount of time to find Liz towards the end. It is do or die and he realizes that more than one of him may be needed to save his love's life.
When it comes to saving Liz, it doesn't seem like it will be possible. Again, Cris uses his ability to test all of his ideas without actually doing them in reality. This is the only feasible way to figure out how to achieve his goal. The film does a wonderful job of making you wonder if something that is happening is real or just occurring in his head as he plays how possible reactions to his actions.
The ending to Next is very thrilling indeed. My list of best Nic Cage films continues to expand. I rank this one right up near the top, despite it being a bit older. Some of his best work was back in the 90s, I am going to have to start digging even deeper in his catalog of films.
I highly recommend Next, if you somehow haven't already watched it like myself. If you aren't already sold on this one, I'll leave the trailer below for you to determine if it is something that you think you may enjoy.
My NFTs: @daltono/nfts
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