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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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Year of the Dog
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by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B Rated PG-13 96 min
First, one must suspend one’s disbelief when viewing this thriller. Just let it happen and enjoy the ride without analyzing the quantum physics at the core of script. Lee Tamahon directed Next’s action packed scenario, which was written by Gary Goldman and based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Tamahon orchestrated the scenes in the Jerry Bruckheimer style of overkill stunts and realistic gun gags. Near the end, there is a mind-blowing twist that sends moviegoers out of the theater trying to piece together what just happened.
Nicolas Cage stars as a two-bit Las Vegas magician, Cris Johnson, who uses his gift of seeing two minutes into the future to make a living gambling. Cris keeps a low profile and is tired of people wanting to exploit his precognition. He is content to perform a daily show at a low-class casino, and gamble at night. Clearly, as the story unfolds, Cris’s gift is more far reaching that he thought, as events conspire to tag Cris as a major FBI asset.
While Cris goes about his daily routine, the FBI and CIA are tracking a group of terrorists who have a nuclear bomb on our soil and plan to use it. The task-force is headed by Callie Ferris (Juianne Moore) who has heard about Cris Johnson’s special ability. She has carte blanche authority to use any asset she chooses to thwart the pending apocalypse. So she parked her semi-pulled operations trailer up on the strip in Vegas to find Cris and recruit him, by force if necessary.
Meanwhile, Cris is at his usual diner drinking his daily martini when he is smitten by a beautiful young woman named Liz (Jessica Biel). He uses his precognition to explore various scenarios of meeting her. He gains her confidence and then it’s love for both of them. He accompanies her to the Grand Canyon where she teaches Native American children with Special Agent Ferris hot on his trail. The Euro-trash bad guys are also hunting Cris. So he’s caught in the middle of a deadly mission to help prevent a nuclear holocaust.
Holed up in a cabin with Liz, Cris finally agrees to help Agent Ferris. He has seen the future and it is bleak. Unfortunately, the terrorists have kidnapped Liz as a backup plan to force Cris to show himself so they can use a sniper to kill him. This begins a long segment of cat-and-mouse scenes with Agent Ferris desperately trying to keep Cris alive. He has seen the future and it includes Liz being used as bait, wired up with explosives. Of course, just by seeing into the future could change it. He only sees the infinite possibilities of the future which he can change.
The action is fast and furious with many close calls for Cris and Agent Ferris, who commands an elite strike force of FBI agents and Delta Force operatives. Cris turns out to be an invaluable asset, seeing dangerous and traps and directing the operation to save lives. Los Angeles is in imminent danger as the terrorists have armed the bomb and have it in place.
The run down to the climax is gripping and there are some clever scenes which use Cris’ precognition to see many different possibilities of some key scenes. During this emergency, Cris discovers that his special ability to see into the future is not limited to two minutes. At this point, with the terrorist closing in, his sudden unlimited precognition is disturbing and he’s not sure how to control it. The key question is: can he stop the nuclear detonation or will it happen in a variation of the future he sees.
Yes, the story is confusing as the viewer can’t tell what events are real or part of Cris’ vision of a possible future. However, this is an exciting action vehicle that keeps the viewers riveted to the screen. It’s a wild ride with Nicolas Cage pulling off one of his more intriguing characterizations. Juianne Moore is impressive as Agent Ferris. She plays the role with incredible intensity and physical prowess. Jessica Biel is also a standout as Liz, as events count down to the last seconds before the nuclear blast.
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