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Next (Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel) – Julianne, Julianne, Julianne.  What the heck were you thinking?  She’s been nominated for four Oscars.  Why in the world would she do this film?  Remember when Annette Bening did The Siege with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington, trying to adopt the tough woman image and looking totally out of her element?  It’s déjà vu!  She is so bad in this that it almost makes you forget how totally inane this movie is.  This is reminiscent of Déjà Vu, an almost awful movie where our protagonist (Denzel, again) could see the future.  Same here.  Nick Cage can see the future two minutes ahead of time, but only if it pertains to him.  Well, almost.  Somehow, he can also see it for a woman he never met (Jessica Biel) but much further in advance (but he doesn’t know how far).  He makes the plan to meet her, befriends her, falls in love with her, then tries to keep her from being killed.  The cops are trying to find a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles, and they turn to Cris Johnson (Cage), Las Vegas magician and clairvoyant to help stop the detonation.  Believe me, it gets worse from here.  While nothing makes sense, it does keep you engaged, partly because it’s exciting and mostly because you wonder what stupid plot turn is next.  It just misses as a nominee for Worst Picture of the Year because of Jessica Biel, who looks like she belongs here, because Cage qualifies as an action star (even though he has won an Oscar and gotten another nomination for serious roles), and because the most creative part of the movie is the credits.  But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Julianne Moore is here.  At the end of the day, don’t waste your money, but once it comes to free TV (and American Idol and Lost aren’t on), it might be worth your time.

 

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