The advertising and promotion for Brian De Palma's new thriller suggests that viewers should believe nothing they see in watching the movie, and that is almost right.
Nothing is what it seems at first glance.
Through the course of the film, the anti-hero becomes the hero, the hero becomes the villain, the chippie becomes a scientist and an assassination that appears to be the work of terrorists turns out to be something else entirely. And it is much better to be sitting inside a cool theater than doing most summertime tasks. Along with some obvious weaknesses, the film has some obvious strengths. It shows us a side of Nicolas Cage that I have not seen before. I think of him as a kind of laid-back hero.