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SCI-FI THROWAWAY CANDY TOO LUDICROUS FOR ITS OWN PANTS, BUT

Shashank Tripathi | Gadabout | 05/13/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is your Swiss-cheese thriller for the summer of 2007. You know, with so many holes that they're almost par for the course, but the overall experience is one of momentary delight anyway. You savor it, then you go on your merry way. Suspend disbelief for best results.

The whole crux of the movie is the FBI's frenetic hunt for a bunch of handsome European miscreants (sporting a bouquet of dialects) who're about to detonate a nuclear warhead in or around LA. The reason? Not sure. Perhaps to make a big bada boom. Perhaps to look real scary. We will never know, nor, I suspect, would the FBI team from the film. But that's not to stop them from acting all pensive and thriller-like. It showers much of the spotlight on light humor involving the protagonist and his love interest instead. He's a magician with a special skill that you should find out for yourself, and she's, well, magical. Some liberal scatter-shot editing follows, but it's a fun ride. The visuals of the Grand Canyon (that's what they were I presume?) are breathtaking. The ending credits roll does justice to the theme, and may get a final round of laughter.

There is no way this film merits a serious review, but I will take the time to report one serious gripe: the hairstyles! Tom Hanks may have done an enormous disfavor to the cinematic community by sporting his little rumpled tuft in Da Vinci Code, which seems to have taken off -- Jim Carrie in 23, and now Nicholas Cage here. Time for some scissors, Hollywood! As for Julianne Moore, she's an actress in such fine form that although she's evidently in the middle of something goofy she brings to it the kind of pizazz one would expect from an actual blockbuster.

Don't confuse the film with Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, be prepared for a pastime flick at the intellectual caliber of National Treasure, get your Coke and choco-chip icecream, and buckle up to enjoy a basically senseless ride."

Good Movie Marred by the 9/11 Scare Tactics

H. A Huffman | Mt. Prospect, IL USA | 09/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Next, a movie based on the Philip K. Dick short story, is very clever in spots. Nicholas Cage plays a precognative gmbler/magician who can see two minutes into the future. The interesting thing in this movie is that he can see all possible futures; this led to some interesting scenes in the movie. The plot revolves around terrorists planning to blow up LA who finad out that this guy could upset their master plan. Government agents are looking for this guy too for the same reason. Ahh, terrorism, the all purpose plot device - why blow up LA? Just because I guess - whatever..

Anyway, the special effects are cool, there are some good action sequences and Cage is a good choice to play the main character in the movie. Its not worth the 9-10 bucks it would have taken to see this in the theatres but it is worth renting/buying on sale."