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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent -
Despite what the trailer suggests, this is not as silly, strange, or as resemblant to a Donald Kaufman or Spike Jonze movie as it implies. Instead, it's a mostly conventional action movie with only a smattering of subversive elements. What it reminds me of the most is the 2010 movie RED, which also has a trailer that suggests something in which veterans like Ernest Borgnine and John Malkovich call out their old age, quirks, etc., but also ends up being a mildly funny and by-the-numbers affair. Speaking of actors poking fun at themselves, there's only a smattering of that as well; in fact, it's much more of a self-penned love letter. Even though I feel like I've been baited and switched, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it.
One highlight are the scenes in which Cage has conversations with the image of himself he wants to maintain - think Clarence's (Christian Slater) conversations with Elvis in True Romance - and who I think resembles Sailor Ripley in Wild Heart more than any of his characters. I also appreciate that imaginary Cage is obviously made younger with what looks like the same technology Scorsese used in The Irishman, which accentuates his falseness and unattainability. As for the rest of the movie’s look and feel - the action scenes in particular - I like that they have little to no noticeable CGI, which gives the movie grit and substance and let me pay attention to the performances more than anything else. While Cage is as Cagey as he needs to be and as sincere as he can be when the scene calls for it, I was more impressed with Sharon Horgan's work as his fed-up fictional ex-wife and Pablo Pascal's scene-stealing work as his rich, obsessed fan, with whom Cage shares real bromance energy. Hopefully, Pascal will end up having a career that's capped with a movie like this one as well (without all the tax difficulties, of course).
In addition to being more safe than zany and narcissistic than self-effacing, the movie also stumbles by trying to make the audience care about things that aren't worth caring that much about. One of these is the kidnapping and election meddling plot in which Cage gets unwillingly involved, which is not nearly as involving as the movie thinks it is, and the other is Cage's strained relationships with his fictional ex-wife and teenage daughter. For one, they're fictional, which works against the supposed point of the movie of the real Nicolas Cage reckoning with his career, identity, etc. I can respect that Cage did not want too much of his personal life to be on the screen, but it's still time that could have been allocated to more fun and interesting things, i.e., Cage and Pascal hanging out. Besides, most of Cage's family's complaints involve how self-centered he is, which the entire movie contradicts. In short, it ends up being only mildly satisfying as a movie about Nicolas Cage and mostly satisfying as an action movie as well as one that starts Nicolas Cage, especially compared to most of his output from the last decade. In short, it's about as subversive a movie about Nicolas Cage and his career that you would expect a Hollywood studio to invest in in our franchise-prioritizing day and age.
Despite what the trailer suggests, this is not as silly, strange, or as resemblant to a Donald Kaufman or Spike Jonze movie as it implies. Instead, it's a mostly conventional action movie with only a smattering of subversive elements. What it reminds me of the most is the 2010 movie RED, which also has a trailer that suggests something in which veterans like Ernest Borgnine and John Malkovich call out their old age, quirks, etc., but also ends up being a mildly funny and by-the-numbers affair. Speaking of actors poking fun at themselves, there's only a smattering of that as well; in fact, it's much more of a self-penned love letter. Even though I feel like I've been baited and switched, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it.
One highlight are the scenes in which Cage has conversations with the image of himself he wants to maintain - think Clarence's (Christian Slater) conversations with Elvis in True Romance - and who I think resembles Sailor Ripley in Wild Heart more than any of his characters. I also appreciate that imaginary Cage is obviously made younger with what looks like the same technology Scorsese used in The Irishman, which accentuates his falseness and unattainability. As for the rest of the movie’s look and feel - the action scenes in particular - I like that they have little to no noticeable CGI, which gives the movie grit and substance and let me pay attention to the performances more than anything else. While Cage is as Cagey as he needs to be and as sincere as he can be when the scene calls for it, I was more impressed with Sharon Horgan's work as his fed-up fictional ex-wife and Pablo Pascal's scene-stealing work as his rich, obsessed fan, with whom Cage shares real bromance energy. Hopefully, Pascal will end up having a career that's capped with a movie like this one as well (without all the tax difficulties, of course).
In addition to being more safe than zany and narcissistic than self-effacing, the movie also stumbles by trying to make the audience care about things that aren't worth caring that much about. One of these is the kidnapping and election meddling plot in which Cage gets unwillingly involved, which is not nearly as involving as the movie thinks it is, and the other is Cage's strained relationships with his fictional ex-wife and teenage daughter. For one, they're fictional, which works against the supposed point of the movie of the real Nicolas Cage reckoning with his career, identity, etc. I can respect that Cage did not want too much of his personal life to be on the screen, but it's still time that could have been allocated to more fun and interesting things, i.e., Cage and Pascal hanging out. Besides, most of Cage's family's complaints involve how self-centered he is, which the entire movie contradicts. In short, it ends up being only mildly satisfying as a movie about Nicolas Cage and mostly satisfying as an action movie as well as one that starts Nicolas Cage, especially compared to most of his output from the last decade. In short, it's about as subversive a movie about Nicolas Cage and his career that you would expect a Hollywood studio to invest in in our franchise-prioritizing day and age.