Push

While there's something creepy about watching pubescent, preternaturally self-assured Dakota Fanning parade across the screen in a miniskirt and thigh-high boots, that's the least of Push's problems. An incoherent action film with sci-fi trappings, director Paul McGuigan's Push is set in a future dystopia where some people (called “watchers”) can visualize upcoming events, while others (known as “movers”) are able to transport objects with sheer brainpower, and a third mutant group (the “pushers”) use telepathy to plant ideas in the minds of their victims. Fanning plays Cassie Holmes, a watcher who sketches her mental images on paper and teams up with mover Nick Gant (Chris Evans) in an attempt to change the apocalyptic future she has foreseen. Both are opposed by others with supernatural powers working for an ill-defined governmental entity known as “The Division,” and when Nick's pusher girlfriend (Camilla Belle) becomes a pawn in the game, the unlikely partners find themselves awash in enemies. The end result is a confusing conglomerate of jaggedly-edited action sequences, interspersed with Cassie's wordy plot-expository diatribes (poor Fanning is stuck with silly lines like, “You better do something quick because I'm getting sick of drawing dead bodies.”). Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Paul McGuigan, and costars Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning, “The Science Behind the Fiction” behind-the-scenes featurette (10 min.), three minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a muddled film.] (E. Hulse)