Loosely based on a 1954 sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick, Next is another in a long line of time-travel movies that offer mostly clever fun ... as long as you don't think about it too much.

Nicolas Cage stars as Cris Johnson, a magician entertaining liquor-sodden audiences in Las Vegas. He comes off as a bargain-basement trickster, but Cris is using the job to hide a secret talent: He can see into the future. Well, he can see precisely two minutes into the future, if you want to be a stickler about it, but the two-minute warning is enough to let him anticipate the answers to questions and win the occasional hand of blackjack.

But trouble ensues when hard-nosed FBI agent Cassie Ferris (Julianne Moore), who somehow knows about Cris' gift, confronts him for help. Terrorists have set a Russian nuclear device somewhere in sunny Southern California, and Agent Ferris wants Chris to provide a two-minute heads-up about where it will detonate. But the bad guys know the FBI wants Cris, too, and they are determined to nab him first.

For his part, Cris just wants to be left alone and able to pursue the girl of his premonitions. Although he typically can see foresee only the two minutes, he has been haunted by lengthier visions of a beautiful young woman at a diner. Our hero finally meets her, a teacher named Liz (Jessica Biel), and he taps his soothsaying ability to find the perfect lines that will earn him her trust. Evidently Liz is unfazed by his creepy demeanor and haircut borrowed from Tom Hanks circa The Da Vinci Code, and, before long, the two are carpooling to Arizona.

Next works best when you accept it for the schlocky time-travel thriller it is. The cast understands this. Cage's brand of sad-eyed melancholy is appropriate here, and Moore appears to be having fun as the no-nonsense FBI agent. While the romantic chemistry between Cage and Biel never quite gels, the actress deftly tackles her main tasks of looking sexy and wearing tight jeans. And that's nothing to sneeze at.

And unlike many films of its ilk, Next has the good sense to acknowledge the plotholes that arise from the time travel storyline. As Cris points out in voiceover, altering the future before it occurs changes everything because, by so doing, it becomes the future no longer. The sentiment might be a little bong-friendly, but at least screenwriters Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh and Paul Bernbaum don't engage in copious hand-wringing over the genre's inherently fuzzy logic. And they deserve credit for a nifty twist of an ending that is as surprising as it is seemingly inevitable.

Director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day) has the good sense to realize that Cris' limited clairvoyance is the engine that keeps Next humming along, and so he keeps things moving along with some punchy chase scenes and a minimum of backstory. Who exactly are these terrorists? We don't know. How does Agent Ferris learn about Cris' gift? Beats me. Why is Cris able to see farther into the future when it involves Liz? Your guess is as good as mine. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to ask.

As befits a recent theatrical release, the anamorphic widescreen DVD print is near pristine, with sharp lines, rich colors and a consistently clean picture. The disc preserves the theatrical version's 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

No complaints. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is aggressive and makes inventive use of rear speakers. A 5.1 track is available in Spanish and a 2.0 track is available in French. Viewers can select subtitles in English, Spanish or French.

Next flitted in and out of cineplexes with little to no fanfare, but the DVD boasts some nice special features. Making the Best Next Thing (18:16) is a fairly standard promotional bit with interviews of cast and crew, but it's interesting to discover just how much Cage contributed to the plotline.

Two small featurettes are also worthwhile. Visualizing the Next Movie (7:48) delves into the CG effects behind the action sequences, while the nearly seven-minute Next "Grand Idea" focuses on a scene in which Cage and Biel visit an Indian Reservation at the Grand Canyon.

Pure throwaway is Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel (2:29), a frivolous interview with the actress.

Unfairly dismissed upon its theatrical release, Next delivers some interesting concepts and solid action sequences while maintaining a sense of humor about the enterprise.