Nicolas Cage: Love Him or Just Tolerate Him?
Did you see any of the three big studio releases this weekend? Early box office returns indicate that Alex Proyas' apocalyptic science-fiction drama Knowing drew larger audiences than John Hamburg's bro-mantic comedy I Love You, Man or Tony Gilroy's clever Duplicity. Putting it in star terms, it looks like Nicolas Cage beat out the teaming of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, as well as one-time box office champ Julia Roberts and Clive Owens. But did audiences flock to Knowing because of Nicolas Cage, or despite him?
I'm in the latter camp, and that's because his track record of choosing interesting projects has taken a nose dive since he won an Academy Award in 1996 for Leaving Las Vegas. As well expressed by John Anderson in The Washington Post, Cage's performance in Con Air marked the turning point, after which there have been "few detours from the action star/blockbuster track upon which Cage has trod with particularly graceless aplomb, and virtually no humor at all, except on top of his head, where his hair is continual source of mirth and mystery."
As I watched Cage as a college professor and widowed father in Knowing, I was struck by how hard he seemed to be Acting (yes, with a capital "A"), emoting with every muscle in his body vibrating, never giving a straight line reading for fear it might be considered ordinary or unimportant. Anderson wrote: "He glowers, he hunches, he looks meaningfully into the distance without it meaning anything at all."
Like Anderson, I miss the juicy, funny, very human Cage of Raising Arizona, Valley Girl, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Wild at Heart. He was sometimes overindulgent, but he compelled me to watch what he would do next. Not anymore. Do you still love Nicolas Cage?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-22-2009 @ 8:45PM
Daniel M. said...
I enjoy watching Cage movies my favorites are the National Treasure,Matchstick Men, The Rock and others. I love it when he does monologue voice overs.
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3-22-2009 @ 8:47PM
Michael Byng said...
Ok, I never "loved" him but I really like his movies. And I dont think Knowing made that much because of it's star, it made alot because people thought it would be a good thriller with a cool concept. I really liked the movie and the star had no influence over it. Nor do I think people go to the movies because of the acting of the star, that maybe the reason for some people but not for me.
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3-22-2009 @ 8:55PM
abe frohman said...
His last great preformance was in Adaptation but the only other ones that I've really liked are Leaving Las Vegas and Moonstruck.
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3-23-2009 @ 1:21AM
Mark said...
I liked him in Family Man
3-23-2009 @ 10:11AM
snork1 said...
@Mark: I liked Family Man when it was Its a Wonderful Life ;)
3-22-2009 @ 8:57PM
Andy said...
I would rather add another category...extremely frustrated by the guy.
He belongs to a class of entertainers that are consistently frustrating, confusing, and aggravating, and I will tell you why... they're all over the place, and it takes time trying to not get burned.
Some entertainers are really easy... Larry the Cable Guy 'movies', The '_____ Movie' movies, Creed, The Apprentice 'series', These are all things that take up none of my time evaluating...I know for a fact I will not enjoy them and would rather be shaved with a rusty razor and dipped in rubbing alcohol than have to sit through any of those things.
Nicolas Cage though, is a completely different story. One day he makes 'Adaptation', the next it's 'The Wicker Man'. One day 'Raising Arizona', the next 'Bangkok Dangerous'. Every single time it's like a potential landmine of extreme crappiness. It's frustrating.
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3-22-2009 @ 9:03PM
Jake B said...
frankly, i hate him, nicholas cage is a terrible actor, and shouldn't be allowed to act in any movie ever again, those in which he already exists ought to be cut and have him replaced with someone who can act. also how do they always drop him into like action/thriller movies? really not his thing! the best role i saw him in was in the few minutes of "adaptation" because his role matched the same facial expression that he alwasy has on! he doesn't know how to change his expression! he's always kind of worried/sad looking, and i can never take him seriously as an actor.
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3-23-2009 @ 2:56AM
yani said...
I'm totally with you! I loathe and detest Cage, and frankly, I refuse to see anything that he's in. Which for the most part has been fine, because he's never really been in anything worth seeing (although I probably would have gone to see the two National Treasure movies if they'd had somebody good in them).
3-22-2009 @ 9:20PM
Jenn Brown said...
There was a time when I might give a film a chance with him in it, now it's an immediate black mark against the film.
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3-22-2009 @ 10:03PM
MCW said...
After the National Treasure series went completely off the deep end, I began to realize... I'm only watching the movies because they are action thrillers, and I like the genre. Nic Cage just happens to BE in these movies that I want to see!
I wanted to see NEXT, Ghost Rider, Knowing, National Treasure, etc., because they all seemed right up my alley. It could've been anyone else in his role, and I wouldn't have cared. But because he takes all of these roles, he is only soiling his own career... I can't change that.
I know, and we all know, what we're getting when we intentionally watch his movies now.
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3-22-2009 @ 10:21PM
getdeadspammer@gmail.com said...
He's the poster child for phoning it in. He's been brilliant in some roles like his characters in Raising Arizona and Adaptation, but then there is this other side where he tries to play an action hero and just comes off as bland and awful.
PS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo
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3-22-2009 @ 10:25PM
Kate said...
I've heard he's a very nice man, but I cannot get into his movies.
"I was struck by how hard he seemed to be Acting (yes, with a capital "A"), emoting with every muscle in his body vibrating, never giving a straight line reading for fear it might be considered ordinary or unimportant."
Yup. This.
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3-22-2009 @ 11:57PM
Vegimorph said...
I love Nicolas Cage. He's never boring to watch and his movies are awesome. My favorite movies of his are the National Treasure movies and The Rock. I want to see more of his earlier work like Leaving Las Vegas and Raising Arizona and Face/Off. I have Moonstruck but haven't gotten to watch it yet. i have only disliked two of his movies so far but only because the movie was bad while he was good. These are Peggy Sue Got Married and Adaptation. I only disliked Adaptation because it was confusing and kind of creepy/disgusting but I might give it another chance. Either way, Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors and I can't wait to see what he'll do next
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3-23-2009 @ 1:02AM
Meredith said...
I know he's a Coppola, but I honestly don't understand how he keeps getting work.
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3-23-2009 @ 3:49AM
Kevin said...
Since "Con Air" is going too far. Since "Ghost Rider" is more like it and even then he is still working with some very talented young filmmakers like Alex Proyas and the Pang Brothers.
And couldn't John Anderson (or Owen Gleiberman who just posted a scatching blog about Cage) actually do a little research or write an actual article, maybe with some interviews?
I mean, this one quote from IMDB seems revealing:
"It's very risky for an actor who's a bankable star to make pictures like The Weather Man or Lord of War because they inevitably promote them like big studio releases. And they're not big studio movies, they're more edgy, thought-provoking, independent-spirited films. What happens is, it goes into the computer, and everyone says they can't open the movie because they thought it was X when it actually was Y."
Nic Cage's issue is the same as Eddie Murphy's; they want to work within the studio system and make their big paydays but studios rarely put up much quality anymore.
Nic Cage obviously has a different way of looking at the world than the rest of us and his taste comes through in his movie choices. And the fact that he has more say in how the films turn out might have a lot to do with the odd way that they turn out. Who knows how his earlier works might turn out if Nic Cage made them today?
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3-23-2009 @ 5:12AM
Kurt Munro said...
Con Air/The Rock are two of the best action movies around. Face Off too. But none of his action movies in the last 12 years have been good.
He's done decent stuff in between too, like Adaptation etc.
Bad Lieutenant could be good.
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3-23-2009 @ 6:25AM
Adam said...
Up until National Treasure 2, I would probably say I was just frustrated by him. After that movie I swore I'd never go to the theater to see him again.
I really like action movies, even fairly dumb ones like The Rock or Con-Air. But movies like National Treasure, Face-Off and Ghost Rider are just bad beyond words. I found myself going to see his movies, for some unknown reason really, even though I knew going in they were bad. Every time I walked out frustrated.
So I decided to break the cycle and just stop going. I'd honestly love to have a reason to see his movies again, but until I see something (on DVD) that is worth watching I'll just continue to boycott. The guy seems to make money-making movies every time so he's clearly not missing me. But I can't help wondering if his audience is made up of others like me who just go because they want to like his movies and will soon tire of the disappointment.
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3-23-2009 @ 8:41AM
Kevin said...
I'm in the camp that is indifferent to who stars in the film. I don't hate Nicholas Cage because all the movies that people keep talking about are films that looked terrible so I never so them (National Treasure 1 and 2, Next, etc.). I go to see movies that look like they have interesting stories not because of who the star is. I saw Knowing because of 2 things. 1) It looked like it might have an interesting premise, and 2) Ebert gave it a glowing review, and I generally agree with Ebert when it comes to Sci Fi movies (he's one of the only critics who takes the genre seriously). Having said that, Cage wasn't great in the movie, but the movie itself was worth my time. Not an excellent film, but a really good Sci Fi film that isn't a carbon copy of all the other summer blockbusters that studios push out. But I didn't see it "because of" or "in spite of" Cage, I saw it because I figured it would be good. Oh, and I don't get all the Ghost Rider bashing. I think people are just so spoiled by all the great Judd Apatow movies in the last few years that we have forgotten what comedies were like back in the day.
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3-23-2009 @ 10:29AM
kevin said...
Nick Cage... go, going GONE!!!
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3-23-2009 @ 11:05AM
craig said...
I always have liked Cage as an actor but he is on a string of crap. I almost walked out of NAtional Treasure 2 it was that bad. He is just taking roles for money, can't blame the guy, but he isn't a serious actor anymore, really losing his name.
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