Burning Questions: Is Nic Cage Gone For Good?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 11:00PM Michael C. here just back from an encounter with the Spirit of Vengeance.
There is something about movies not screening for critics that makes me want to see titles I would otherwise self-deport to avoid. I think it’s the idea that they’re trying to get away with something. I want to go to prove that they're as awful as I suspect. Not rational behavior, I admit, but I feel I have to produce some explanation as to why, when my friends suggested we go see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, I went, instead of doing something sensible like jumping in front of a bus.
Of course, my friends didn’t think the movie would be good either. These days one sees a Nicolas Cage movie for the same reason one Googles “epic fail” or watches the GOP debates: the promise of spectacular, instantly classic moments of insanity. Cage’s recent films have been so consistently bonkers that they are now a genre unto themselves. A genre wherein a drug-fueled communion with imaginary iguanas is classified as “same old, same old”.
It’s reach a point where I don’t think it’s unfair to ask, Will Nicolas Cage ever give another great performance?
I’m aware that reflex response of a lot of people is “When has he ever?” The cool thing to do when an actor delivers a string of bombs of this magnitude is to label them as eternally terrible and dismiss their whole body of work. For the record I think Cage has delivered at least two unambiguously great performances – Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation – and has been varying degrees of very good in everything from Bringing Out the Dead to Matchstick Men to the under-appreciated Lord of War.
Of course Cage has always been a bit strange, but up until recently that’s been part of his appeal. Moonstruck wouldn’t have had the same goofy romantic charm if Cher had fallen for a straightforward leading man instead of Cage’s off-kilter baker. The problem is that now the eccentricities that used to be the icing on top of a Cage performance have become the whole cake. The whole crazy, crazy cake. He risks crossing that line after which one can start assembling the career highlights reel because there ain’t any new clips coming. For lack of a better term let’s call this “Going Full Brando”.
Now Cage has yet to appear on screen wearing an ice bucket on his head, but many of his recent choices on and off screen don’t suggest much better judgment. Like his seemingly serious statement he signed onto Drive Angry because he wanted to be in a movie where he got his eye shot out (mission accomplished!). Or the rumors he left Green Hornet because Gondry refused to let him play the villain with an inexplicable Jamaican accent.
Beyond off-screen kookiness there is the simple problem that it’s been so long since Cage played anything resembling a normal human being one wonders if he still can. It used to be well within his range in stuff like Honeymoon in Vegas but it’s going on six years since he last attempted it in Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center.
Even if I’m not yet willing to write Cage off as having gone full Brando, he’s definitely entered the Walken Zone. Like Skynet, he has become self-aware. Right around the time the greatest hits from his performance in Neil LaBute's blighted Wicker Man remake became an Internet sensation (“Not the bees!”) he stopped being Nicolas Cage and started playing “Nicolas Cage” There are moments in the Spirit of Vengeance where he clearly made a conscious decision to “Cage it up”.
So if he can turn the bug-eyed mannerisms up it stands to reason that he can turn them down. Even Walken was able to bust out a solid, Oscar-nominated performance in Catch Me If You Can long after he became a walking punchline synonymous with cowbells. In any case we’ll have an answer when Cage reunites with Charlie Kaufman for his new project Frank or Francis. If anyone can keep Cage from moving permanently to the Island of Dr. Moreau one would hope it’s Kaufman.
"I'm not afraid of you" ... "You should be."
Am I wrong to hold out hope for Cage's return to self-control? Do you want to defend the mad genius of Cage's recent output? Let me know in the comments
You can follow Michael C. on Twitter at @SeriousFilm or read his blog Serious Film.
Previous Burning Questions...
Burning Questions, Ghost Rider, Nicolas Cage, superheroes
Reader Comments (23)
I don't think it's over yet. I agree with Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation as his two Great performances, but Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans isn't too far behind if you ask me. It combines Nicolas Cage and "Nicolas Cage" in the best way possible and keeps me hopeful that the former has yet to completely disappear.
Hollywood is an extremely kind and forgiving town for male actors. I don't think it's even possible for any of them to ever be gone for good. As long as they are still breathing, there is always a "comeback vehicle" around the corner. And as soon as that happens, most people are gonna rapidly forgive and forget about all those shitty films and scandals.
It's obviously a case of material in Cage's case, and I really liked him a lot in 'Kick-Ass'. And even as I admit that Big Daddy was outlandish as well, he was certainly more nuanced than anything else he did in the past few years.
two other great performances - raising arizona and birdy
I really think he's an awful actor who's never been short of terrible in all his films; from Peggy Sue Got Married to Wild at Heart to Leaving Las Vegas to Adaptation. to The Wicker Man. He just always seems so forced and unauthentic in everything I've seen him in. The closest he's come to a good performance IMO is Con Air, and that's really not saying much.
There's a funny Onion News video interview with "the man in the nicolas cage suit". Funny stuff.
I'm sorry but he was absolutely great in Bad Lieutenant?
I agree with Buttercup, Hollywood is the best place for Nick Cage, it's the place that will have him, nurture him and tolerate him.
I think he's a good actor. I do understand where all the criticism comes from but as mentioned in the article, he's doing "Frank or Francis".
The best thing about people like Charlie Kaufman is that they go after talent and Mr Cage has it, it's all about finding a good project and a director to show it again.
Cage's kooky appeal isn't lost on me. It's something to anticipate with each new release. If he dials it down...what will separate him from the others?--aside from a bad hair piece and bug eyes.
Well, one of his best performance was Leaving Las Vegas which he always acted half-drunk. Or maybe because of that he actually concentrated only on performing? lol
I'm not his supporter but I enjoyed him in his early days a la Moonstruck, Raising Arizona... but maybe because there were interesting roles rather than the acting itself.
C'mon, he was great in Bad Lieutenant: PoCNO, and more than tolerable in Kick-Ass, both only a couple of years ago. Prejudices declared: I'm a big Cage fan (my fave performance: Wild at Heart) though even I find it hard to forgive Season of the Witch and Drive Angry. But let's also not forget that the man has some extraordinary tax bills to pay; therefore I invoke Bill Hicks's 'WIllie Nelson' clause to let him off the embarrasing paycheck stuff.
For the record, I thought he was pretty awesome in Bad Lieutenant, although it's tough to judge if that was a return to quality or just a case where his current undisciplined, manic persona was perfect fit for the role. I should watch it again some time. It certainly isn't dull, that's for certain.
He has another movie coming out in a month with January Jones and Guy Pearce, which looks as bad as the one he did with Nicole Kidman, but it's not going straight-to-DVD--which I can't quite figure out. If he can still deliver over-20 mil opening, he's clearly not dead.
Good point, Michael. He certainly was perfectly fitted to the role, but if I recall correctly (it's been a while since I watched it), there were some lovely subtle moments in his performance amongst the wildly entertaining histrionics.
And yes Cal, he was great in it! I don't care what anyone else says, I stick by that film and performance 100% :)
Thanks for the great piece.
It's become sad to see a man with such talent become such a punchline. What's more troubling are the people who refuse to believe he's ever been good. I defy anybody with even the slightest idea of what good acting is to say that his work in Adaptation is anything less than terrific.
Nicolas Cage is great in everything he does.
He was good in Kick-Ass, though obviously not an Oscar caliber role. I think his money issues with the IRS have influenced his decision making in the past five years (along with his desire to own Elvis memorabilia), but he's still got plenty of time to make better movies with a change in management and a breakout role with a big director.
The one point the majority of you seem to be glossing over is that he has serious money/tax problems. Because of this I think he is taking roles strictly for the paycheque and not taking into account if these roles are any "good." Adding to this is that people have come to expect him to be batshit-crazy in every role he plays, so this only adds to the long line of craptacular performances. I personally think he's a very good actor who unfortunately has had very poor movie choices recently; in the late 80's/early 90's however, his roles were all very interesting/entertaining. Here's hoping he gets his personal life back together and starts delivering strong performances again.
I am an unashamed Nicolas Cage fan. There I said it! I will always watch a Nicolas Cage film, no matter how bad the reviews, because even when he's not good he at least tends to be interesting.
The great performances mentioned in the article are all more restrained performances. While I definitely appreciate these and I hope he continues to do those roles, I don't think he necessarily has to dial it down for greatness- look at Bad Lieutenant. I'd agree with the others who've called it his most recent great performance. Not every role calls for restraint and Cage can do unsubtle like no one else. Sometimes I want to see those weird abstractions and exaggerations that only he does. Can you imagine a naturalistic take on the recent Wicker Man? We would have had to take all that women are evil stuff seriously. Instead we have the wonder of "how'd it get burned".
That said, even I can't deny that he's been in a lot of dreck recently. I think he just needs to work with better directors. He tends to up his game when he's working with a Herzog or a Scorsese or a Jonze. I'm definitely looking forward to Frank or Francis.
Long may he "Cage it up"!
I don't think Nic Cage is done by a long shot. I agree that Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation are his best performences with several others that fall in that line. And he still puts out very good to great performences. In the last three years alone he's done Kick Ass (The first time in ages were he's being relentlessly quirky yet it's being handled correctly by director, writer, and Cage himself that it falls inlineswith his better out there performences.) Then you have Port of Call New Orleans, a great example of what Nic cage can do as an all around performer, and Then you have the Sorcerers Apprentice movie, average but entertaining family film with a likable and solid performence. I think the problem with Cage lately is, when he does do his outlandish performences (which he does often) it's not with the same qaulity of behind the scenes ppl. I mean, the Directors of Crank and Crank 2 are not exactly David Lynch.
I hate to be mean (i dont really) but has Nicholas Cage being good... at all ? Practically every movie he's in is a disaster. Leaving Las Vegas might be he's only good (not great) role. After and before that I don't see anything valuable in his career. Sorry but that's my point of view.
Nick has been gone for a while....just let him go.
The still of Leaving Las Vegas reminds me of what a great performance Elisabeth Shue gave. It's a shame her career never blossomed after it yet Cage continued with his hit & miss (mainly miss) performances.