I just really can’t reconcile the number of films that have been made which star Nicolas Cage as the mildly vacant character swept up in some sort or frenetic intrigue. If there is any definitive proof that Hollywood is catering to the the least ambitious part of our collective movie consumption, it has to be found in large part in the resume of Mr. Cage. Aside from Wild At Heart, Adaptation, and Raising Arizona, I can’t find much of anything in his filmography that I couldn’t live without.
As for this story, Cage plays a man who can see up to 2 minutes into his future. Guess what: it’s just as boring as the present. Like all stories involving time manipulation, the idea is impossible and maddening to fully conceive, and this film does nothing to solve or enhance that conundrum. Cage’s character’s powers are enhanced when he meets and falls for a woman (Jessica Biel), which works out particularly well for ball-breaking FBI agent Julianne Moore who thinks Cage can help her find a missing nuclear weapon. Feel the tension. I have to give credit to director Lee Tamahori and his collaborators for coming up with visually creative ways to represent what is essentially Cage’s omniscience, but that doesn’t save this film from being yet another example of lukewarm, vending machine entertainment which falls considerably short of any ambition to create arresting, memorable cinematic experiences.
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
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