Film

Cert: 12A

Description: Watered-down Philip K Dick sci-fi in which Nicolas Cage plays a man who can see a little way into the future. When the government decides to use his powers for counter-terrorism purposes, it's big explosions and action set pieces all the way home.

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Dir: Lee Tamahori.

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Nicolas Pajon

Country: US.

Year: 2007.

Duration: 95mins

All action, no talk

Bullet boy: Nicolas Cage comes to the aid of Julianne Moore

By Derek Malcolm
26 Apr 2007

If you knew what was going to happen next, life might be a lot simpler. But it isn't for Nicolas Cage's Las Vegas magician, even though he's pretty good at the blackjack tables after work.

When he's thrown out of his favourite casino, Julianne Moore's FBI counter-terror agent enlists him to help thwart a planned attack on LA.

That's the plot of Maori director Lee Tamahori's sci-fi thriller, based on a short story by Philip K Dick, but it's much too concerned with spectacular chase sequences (during which Cage dodges bullets he knows are on the way) to be an effective character drama, or even a thoughtful treatise on what might happen if you had such an extrasensory talent.

The film blasts its way through its improbable story as if there were no tomorrow, as indeed there wouldn't be if the nuclear device went off. And it's a chronic waste of Moore, one of America's best screen actors.

Jessica Biel plays the love of Cage's life, spending much of the picture tied up with explosives tied to her chest. You may well enjoy the action, but the rest is for the birds.