A new Nicolas Cage movie is in cinemas, a blessing to the actor's fans and all those who've ever dreamed of this Hollywood weirdo playing Count Dracula. Renfield comes at a time in his career when the industry seems ready to recognize him as something more than a meme, finding value in the thespian's oddities past the point of self-parody. This happens after many years when it felt like Cage was only ever mentioned in jest, the butt of a bad joke, a meme to make the internet laugh. And so, it tastes a bit like justice. At least, it does to longtime admirers that never entirely bought into a negative narrative that stems partly from the supposition that exaggeration and what's beyond realism don't belong in the box labeled 'good acting.'
In celebration, allow me to give in to the homosexual prerogative to make lists and present you with my top ten best Nicolas Cage performances. As with recent lists for Angela Bassett and Gwyneth Paltrow, this will only include big screen work, and the movies will remain unranked. However, I decided to add a unique twist to this Nic Cage lovefest...
Since his Oscar-anointed performances already receive enough plaudits, let's put them aside for now. Don't get me wrong, the man's brilliant in Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. His winning turn in Mike Figgis' movie is especially good, tapping into a jazz-like quality where the actor keeps finding personal twists and unexpected deliveries to complicate our understanding of a self-destructive alcoholic. The ghost of an erstwhile Hollywood screenwriter is felt throughout, as are the different types of intoxication that modulate the narrative's agonized tonalities.
Without further ado, here are ten great Cage movies and performances and where you can watch them. Enjoy!
MOONSTRUCK (1987) Norman Jewison
Funny and hot, but in an offbeat way, Nicolas Cage elevated many a comedy in the 80s, those of the romantic persuasion most of all. In that regard, Moonstruck is the cream of the crop, a showcase for the actor's electric chemistry with Cher, his ability to sell the most ludicrous material by leaning into its weirdness rather than trying to ground it. Whether talking animatedly about wolves or detailing the loss of his hand, he's crazy compelling. He's also plain crazy and makes the movie better because of it, daring you to look away from the incandescent passion that's setting the screen ablaze whenever he shows up.
You can find Moonstruck on most major platforms, available for rent or purchase.
VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989) Robert Bierman
Is he, or isn't he? That's the question that supposedly consumes this vampire comedy where an executive becomes convinced he's a creature of the night after having his neck bit by a sexy stranger. However, when Cage is in charge, the ambiguity isn't nearly as interesting as the lunatic zeal with which he plunges into the idea that, no matter what, this man's a monster. Projections of aggression coalesce in bizarre fashion, hinting at something that's halfway between vampiric otherness and inhuman humanity. It's a kinetic masterpiece verging on absolute nonsense, the birthplace of many memes with a hint of surrealism thrown in for good measure. The performance should have earned him the Oscar – sorry, Daniel Day-Lewis.
Vampire's Kiss is streaming on Hoopla, Tubi, Kanopy, and Pluto TV.
FACE/OFF (1997) John Woo
While Vampire's Kiss was a stroke of genius, Cage's propensity for manic acting was contained for most of the 90s. Or, at least, it was presented within respectable frameworks that hid the full extent of the actor's madness. Face/Off, however, marks a further evolution in the Cage persona, as well as a point of no return. It's an impish miracle of unexpected line readings, a freefall into the depths of maximalist gesture and frenzied characterization in tune with Woo's action direction. Moreover, he gets to play two characters in this one, adding notes of straight virtuosity that must be acknowledged, even by the audience's stodgiest, most straight-laced grumps.
Face/Off is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, and Pluto TV.
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1999) Martin Scorsese
Cage's sole dip into the cinema of Martin Scorsese is an artistic risk that pays off like nobody's business. Insomnia is the key reference in this portrayal, a gateway into a hallucinatory view of New York in clear dialogue with the director's previous city symphonies. Rotting away from the inside out, Cage is a paramedic experiencing the most vertiginous burn-out imaginable, looking ready to drop dead at the best of times. Nevertheless, this isn't a surrender to exhaustion but a concerted effort to keep insanity at bay, the actor using his usual tricks but inverting how they come off on screen. Haunted and haunting, it's one of Cage's greatest achievements.
Bringing Out the Dead is streaming on Paramount Plus and Pluto TV.
THE FAMILY MAN (2000) Brett Ratner
A Christmas-time dream of domesticity, The Family Man finds Cage playing a downright asshole who gets a glimpse at another life. He's a fast-lane broker blessed with a magic opportunity to experience an existence where love and family had been his priorities rather than materialistic success. It's a sappy premise tempered by how reluctant the leading man is to part way with his character's rough edges, never capitulating to easy sentiment or the need for easy sympathy. When redemption comes, it feels earned and hard-won. But, even then, it's perfectly imperfect.
The Family Man is available to rent and purchase on most big services.
THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS (2009) Werner Herzog
If, like Blanche DuBois, you don't want realism, but magic, then Cage's take on an Herzogian corrupt cop is what dreams are made of. Untethered from any credible view of humankind, the actor is the manifestation of an unrepressed id in all its hideous glory. Absurdity comes to the forefront, the actorly crutches that tend to make people laugh harnessed by a visionary cineaste capable of looking straight into the heart of darkness, seeing past reason toward the beauty of psychopathy. Unhinged, both artists take it to the limit, finding a cinema of excess that's the perfect home for Nick Cage at his zany extreme.
Herzog's Bad Lieutenant is streaming on Fubo TV, Peacock, The Roku Channel, VUDU, Tubi, Kanopy, Redbox, Crackle, Pluto TV, FILMRISE, Plex, and Freevee.
JOE (2013) David Gordon Green
When you cast Nicolas Cage in a film, especially in the early 2010s, you're bringing a lot of expectations to the table. People will engage with his character, knowing that, at any moment, he might explode in jerky deliveries and bombastic exclamation, a body convulsing through beastly configurations. That assumption informs everything you see in Joe, a study of irascible patriarchs and performative restraint that lives and dies by the possibility of rage underlying every moment of quiet. Closer to naturalism than he usually gets, Cage explores new facets of his repertoire without abandoning the singularities that make him an actor like none other.
Joe is streaming on Peacock Premium. You can also rent it on most big platforms.
MANDY (2018) Panos Cosmatos
Like a piece of prog rock cover art come to life, Mandy is deranged horror painted in shades of neon red, lurid pink, splotches of cirrhosis yellow, and gangrene purple. Such a film practically begs for Cage at his most unrestrained, though that's not really what he delivers. Instead, there's a balance between genuine love shocked by grief, the bloodthirst of an avenging angel, the broken body of a man like all others. Thus, the stylization is based on sincerity, on complete surrender to the emotions at hand until they consume the whole spirit, swallowing movie, actor, and audience in one fell swoop. It's the apocalypse translated in an expression of undiluted despair.
Mandy is streaming on AMC+, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Shudder.
COLOR OUT OF SPACE (2019) Richard Stanley
Though it's superficially similar to Mandy's metal marvels, Color Out of Space is a crucially different animal, and so is Cage's performance. Sorrow is, again, at the forefront, though it comes after he constructs an entire family man persona that's both earnest and cheesy as fuck. A shot of sugar, that banality prepares you for the main course as the pater familias crumbles under the strain of supernatural forces. The desert is served hot and steaming, a pudding set aflame in waves of goopy madness. Devour it all, savor every bite, for this is a pinnacle of modern B-movie acting excellence.
Color Out of Space is streaming on Shudder. You can also find it on major sites for rent or purchase.
PIG (2021) Michael Sarnoski
As a fan of Cage at his most outlandish, the praise he got for Pig was a moment of vindication mixed with annoyance. So many critics conditioned their praise in terms of comparison, finding that the actor's quality depended on the abandonment of excess in favor of restraint. Even though I disagree with that thesis, the quality of the work is undeniable. Again, grief is the central tenet of his performance, just like in Mandy and Color Out of Space. However, loss is buried deep into the essence of this mysterious character, a gruff silent type whose verbal economy goes directly against the many loquacious nuts in the actor's past. When he does speak, every sound is precisely uttered, a knife in the hands of a master chef.
Pig is streaming on Hulu and Kanopy.
What are your favorite Nic Cage performances?