Review of Next (2007) by Mike M — 05 Nov 2015

Movies involving manipulation of time are quite difficult to make, and this was one of the better ones. Cris Johnson (Cage) is able to foresee - but only by a couple of minutes - the consequences of his actions, and then to change his actions accordingly. He is hiding out in Vegas, keeping a low profile, while government agents led by Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) are trying to track him down, planning to turn him into a captive asset with the immediate goal of preventing a terrorist attack.

The setup in Las Vegas is a bit strange, but frankly the Philip K. Dick story on which the original draft of the movie was loosely based is also quite strange (though totally different).

Julianne Moore is exceptional as the FBI agent who has complete faith in her own conviction that Johnson is the solution to the expected attack. We have of course come to expect brilliance from her performances, and I found this one completely up to her usual standard.

Two scenes stand out in my mind, years after seeing this movie: the one where Johnson escapes from the government agents by causing an avalanche then running through it, and the search of the building that displays extremely well the way Johnson sees the world as a series of alternate futures.