Let me introduce you to Nicholas Cage, father to Weston and Kal-El Cage, nephew to Francis Ford Coppola, cousin to Sofia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, and ruler of the Universe.
No seriously, all that's true.
Cage has been subject to quite a lot of ridicule in the last few years. People tend to hate him, and when asked why most of them answer with a film title.
It's rarely ever the same film.
From Ghost Rider to The Wicker Man, Face/Off to The Rock, Knowing to Season of the Witch and The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Nick has wowed audiences, and not in the good way. People take exception to his over-the-top moaning and groaning, but rarely pay attention to anything of worth the poor guy turns out.
Anytime somebody laughs at Drive Angry, I come right back at them with Adaptation. Thought he was ridiculous in National Treasure? I'm guessing you forgot he was in Kick-Ass. Thought World Trade Center was limp, you've obviously never heard of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Raising Arizona or Leaving Las Vegas.
Now, you may accuse me of selective criticism, I've hit this block in my argument before, but how I get over it is this; Nicolas Cage is like a river, a wild beast.....actually no.
Nicolas Cage is an explosion.
That's exactly what he is. He walks onto set, reads the script once, throws it to his side the shouts out to the people present "Are we ready to do this?" People panic, they hastily try to turn their cameras on so that they can capture this performance, but too late, he has exploded.
The fallout is horrible. The cast, crew (and sometimes the audience) are wandering around in a daze, only able to hear him shout; ringing in their ears "I'm like a prickly pear, I'm like a prickly pear". They cant remember what his hair was like, they can't get his dripping flesh to come off their faces. Their suffocating in Cage and all they can taste is him in the back of their throats.
Such is his power, his energy as an actor and goddammit I have to say I admire it. Nowhere else in popular culture can we find anyone who gives themselves so wholly to the role they are given. Being a sometime actor myself I feel ashamed to be in the same world as Nick Cage, and not because he's awful, but because he outshines the rest of us.
The problem with Jor-El, sorry, I mean Nick, is that he's too powerful. Such a blast of energy he gives to his performances, it is rare for a person to come along who's able to deal with him. But when they do, the results can be amazing.
Look at what Kaufman and Jonze did with him in Adaptation. (The only other film to gain him attention as an actor from the Academy.) He is so amazingly riveting in that film, and completely pulls off not only two authentic-seeming separate characters, but also a believable relationship between them. Check out his performance in Herzog's Bad Lieutenant. I sat down to re-watch it last night and found myself amazed as I realised how subtle he is in the film. I only realised upon re-watching that the way he holds his body throughout the whole film screams back-pain, which is debatably the root of all his character's problems.
Also, when has anyone ever been so suavely, extremely Over The Top, yet still in their comfort zone? A romantic would say that Cage is on a quest to push out the comfort boundaries for the ordinary Hollywood star. I wouldn't quite go that far, I mean the guy wants to make a lot of money, but he certainly has his very own way about it.
In my mind I see Jonze and Kaufman grabbing an arm each of the Cage and ripping him bodily into both Charlie and Donald. I can see Herzog violently wrestling him like a bear (as Herzog probably does in his spare time, trying to out do the memory of poor Timothy Treadwell). The basic gist of what I'm trying to say here is that Cage is great, but insane, and to bring him back down to our level, he must be controlled. Like a Nuclear Reaction, when it gets out of control, it's good for nobody except the explosion.
So, long Blog short, my point is that Nicolas Cage is supreme, but must have that strong presence to reign him in, to sometimes tell him NO, and to give him a quick, but firm tap on the ass when he does well.
Right, I'm done.
Enjoy these, you may have seen them, if you only want to watch one, my favourite is the last one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1-oquwoL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eExfV_xKaiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKp29ZcslOM
PJD OUT!
P.S. Remember, somebody out there had to write and direct all of those films that are terrible. Something to think about.
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