Red Rock West (1993) - Review

Red Rock West is a movie that could never be made again in the 2020s, for better or for worse. The movie stars Nicolas Cage as a drifter, Michael, who has travelled near a rural Wyoming town to interview for work. After a string of setbacks, Michael finds himself in a small-time conspiracy when his identity is mistaken with that of a hired killer (Dennis Hopper) and is tasked with killing the local bar owner’s (J.T. Walsh) wife (Lara Flynn Boyle).

This role of a drifter is one that Nic Cage has inhabited quite often throughout his career (give examples from reviews), and it is a role in which he often succeeds. The backstory can evolve as the story needs it, and anything else can fall away. Michael’s backstory evolves at each of the story beats: he has a disability that prevents him from getting a job, then the injury is explained as he relates to other characters, and there is a lingering tension between doing the right thing and succumbing to easy ways to access security.

Another strength of Red Rock West is its incredibly small cast. The number of people on screen at any time is not only small, but the cast list is also small. Doing a quick check over the credits, the total cast is about twenty people. This not only allows for the small town feel to be conveyed appropriately, but it also allows for the story to breathe through its characters; the characters that are present are given the permission to go beyond just advancing the story and inhabit the world for the short 90 minutes. No one outplays each other, even with veteran actors like Hopper rounding out the cast

As stated above, Red Rock West could not be made again. The chase for box office success has made it so that those which appeal to the broadest audience, something that cannot be said of this movie. That is not to say that it is a bad movie. On the contrary, Red Rock West shines brightly today because it is different than what we have become adjusted to. This movie will remain one of my favorite Nic Cage movies because of how simple it tries to be and succeeds to a great degree.

City of Angels (1996) - Review

City of Angels starts as if it is going to take you along Nic Cage's angelic duties as Seth, trying to heal the citizens of Los Angeles, as he discusses the various things that angels have missed their opportunity of participating due to the duties they have been assigned from the beginning of man with another angel, Cassiel. Cassiel, played by the late Andre Braugher, plays the straight man against Seth's fascinations toward a human surgeon, Maggie, portrayed by Meg Ryan. This fascination towards Maggie is mostly because she does what humans rarely are able to do: catch a glimpse of their angelic presence before their appointed time of death.

Seth's developing romantic interest in Maggie is sad, not because she cannot interact with him - she eventually can at Seth's willing projection - but because he cannot feel anything that his temporary human form can touch. This makes his longing to have human experiences even stronger, especially when he meets a former angel, a Mr. Messinger (Dennis Franz), who explains his life as one that was filled with joy once he settled down  with his now wife, whom he has never told of his former nature.

City of Angels was a fun watch nearly thirty years later; it was a breath of fresh air to sit back and relax for almost two hours without my senses being assaulted by superfluous and rushed plot tensions. The plot tension was evident from the very beginning - Seth's desire to live like the humans do, but reluctant to give up his calling and the associated blessings that accompany it. What follows are the philosophical musings between humans and angels as to which calling is more noble: to usher souls to their final resting place or to exhibit free will and experience the desires of the flesh. I put up with a lot of incredulous contrivances when it comes to fiction, however, this conceit was too much for me. While it is a charming exploration of a sort of spiritual Romeo & Juliet, this rendition romanticizing the union of angels and humans, something that flies in the face of the orthodoxy that I hold to. I didn't want to make it too much a sticking point in my review, however it just warranted a mention because of its importance to me. Otherwise, if that doesn't bother you, City of Angels is well worth the tonal relief that it can give you, a far cry from modern reliance on action.

The Wicker Man (2006) - Review

The Wicker Man (2006) is a remake of the 1973 movie of the same name. The 2006 release stars Nicolas Cage as California policeman Edward Malus, who travels to the fictional Washington state island of Summersisle to investigate the disappearance of his ex-fiancée's (Kate Beahan) daughter. Once he travels to the island, he is met by a predominantly female apicultural pagan society that is extremely hostile toward any outsiders.

This movie has been examined to death since its release because of the long-since memed performance by Cage as a policeman who is outside of his jurisdiction, but also in an environment that does not respect his authority as a concerned individual of someone he used to love deeply. Ever since stepping onto the island, he is embroiled in a larger conspiracy as the inhabitants of the island speak cryptically as to the subject of his investigation and the consequences of his continued involvement on the island. The conspiracy targets Edward at every corner, forcing himself to question everything about himself that has led him to that point. Even before setting foot onto the island, he is plagued by the failure to save a mother and child who were victims of a head-on collision. This loosening of his grip on reality is usually punctuated by seeing visions of the girl, who presumably perished in the wreck and accompanying explosion, being hit by the same semi-truck that struck the car. Those moments would be effective if they did not appear nearly six times throughout the runtime, dulling its poignance and turning it comical towards it final use. Twelve years ago, I sat in my living room with a group of friends working up a chant of "Truck, truck, truck, etc..." until the ghost truck struck the vision of the child. 

The comedic aspects of The Wicker Man do not seem to be intentional, and yet are back-loaded to the climax of the film. Everyone involved with the production or editing should have been aware of what the final product would have looked like or how it would have been perceived. Edward donning a bear suit to arrive incognito to the paganistic May Day celebration and subsequently punching a woman to save a child being sacrificed in the yearly blessing ritual to bring a good honey yield is perceived more comedic than an act of desperation. The infamous "Not the bees!" exclamation is still a source of humor instead of horror, and removes the tension intended to be conveyed in a single moment.

I became curious about the original film years ago and finally sought it out, especially after knowing that there was also a spiritual sequel in 2011 (The Wicker Tree) that was much more faithful to the spirit of the English film. Much like the brand of neo-paganism that the inhabitants of Summersile (2006) brought to their locale, the tone of the film does not translate the same feelings of doom and wonder that Christopher Lee delivered as the leader of his Summerisle. I do not want to discount the effort that the actors and crew put in trying to bring this movie to an American audience, but the reliance of conventional Hollywood story techniques dilutes the impact of the mystery surrounding the island and the society that inhabits it. The Wicker Man failed to understand the mystique of the original film and deserves the ridicule that it invites due to its callous disregard for nuance.

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018) - Letterboxd Review

I have been trying to use my Letterboxd account for more reviews that didn't inspire me to spend too much effort into films that try and burn me out seriously and critically reviewing them. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is one of those movies that I spent the first 15 minutes wanting to walk away from. I mention in my Letterboxd review for this movie that I haven't been so affected by cringeworthy material since 2017 when I saw The Lego Ninjago Movie in theaters, yet could not bring myself to walk out because I paid for a full-price movie ticket. The hour-ish runtime remaining just doubled down on the tone-deaf references to popular culture that were in their prime decades before the target audience was either alive or semi-conscious. 

Next week's review will be picked from a list that I have compiled as "palate-cleansers" for when I am assaulted by movies that threaten burnout in this project.

Dream Scenario (2023) - Review

Dream Scenario is a black comedy film, which is the most recent offering from Nicolas Cage where he plays Paul Matthews, an unassuming and unimpressive professor. This may seem like a large dig at the completely meek man who finds himself at the center of unwanted attention - appearing in the dreams of those by which he is acquainted, and quickly reaching the larger community, even the world. Paul must navigate this new reality, coping with his newfound fame and infamy, or suffer the societal consequences. No one is sure exactly why Paul is at the center of these at first innocuous then graphic (in many ways) dreams, however they continue to suffer from this collective phenomenon until it passes for good.

The strength of Dream Scenario is its superb casting; the film boasts a solid cast of actors who on sight triggered memories of their comedic performances - Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, and Dylan Baker - but delivered subtly angry performances. The dean of Paul's university (Meadows), Brett, is a concerned friend but must walk the line between personal and professional lives, Trent (Cera) is the lead of a small marketing start-up and has to deal with Paul's newly inflated ego, and Richard (Baker) continues to be frustrated that he has to contemplate the aforementioned mediocre professor. These characters are all upset with the fact that they have not received a dream visitation by Paul in their own ways, yet for different reasons, and I cannot imagine any other actors being able to deliver these nuanced and subdued performances. Julianne Nicholson portrays Paul's wife Janet, another person who fails to have any dreams of her husband like all of those around her. She is also tortured by her husband's newfound celebrity status, and refuses to give in to his slow unraveling due to his self-serving nature. 

Out of the performances described above, Nicholson's performance deserves the most credit - the focus on her character's struggle is especially important because Paul does not know how to regulate the oxygen being sucked out of every room that he so desperately craves, even when his world comes crashing down. Her story highlights just how much that Paul tries to be mild-mannered, unassuming, and capitulating, but all of those character traits are just a mask for his egotistical desires. Cage also delivers the promise of his character from the absolute start: he remains this low-achieving academic who by no means has any control over his emotions. The Paul Matthews at the start is the same at the end, for better or for worse. The casting of Cage was also a wonderful move - this is a man 40 years into his acting career who is self aware of the image that he has in the public eye. I have made no attempt to hide the fact that I got into watching Nic Cage movies with more interest because of the viral freakouts of the late 2000s and early 2010s, and this seemed like the best form of closure that Cage could have ever had to his viral fame. Dream Scenario has quickly cemented itself as a staple for Cage's career and will be one of the films that haunt his fans, for better or for worse.

Update and a Special Review

I just concluded the most intense semester in my academic career, but that meant that I had to shift my focus away from this blog and to completing the avalanche of coursework that was required. I was able to complete a review for Snake Eyes and publish last Tuesday for the first time in a month if you want to want to go back and see what a break does to my critical eye.

Despite catching up to my coursework and having a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, I was only able to complete one review for the project before flying across the country for a week. In order to keep the blog current, even though I don't have access to my regular accounts, I decided to write a letter to the various people on the plane ride out west whose entertainment choices were, shall I say, interesting. If you enjoy that letter, please do consider subscribing to my Letterboxd for similarly written reviews for movies. I have one serious review on that account that was written 8 years ago, but have since made it lie dormant until a muse inspires me (see: The Country Bears). As you may surmise, that account is not my review priority as this blog exists and has a defined purpose.

I had high hopes that my course load would stay manageable enough for me to work on putting together a kindle book this summer with my Cage reviews and selected essays, but that has stalled for the reason mentioned above. I still intend to work on this project, but it no longer has a projected completion date. See my support page for more details. I do have some sort of roadmap for future reviews, but any support that you all kick in can help in my selection paralysis.

Have a great week! I hope to have a new Nic Cage review ready next Tuesday at the normal scheduled time!

Snake Eyes (1998) - Review

Snake Eyes stars Nicolas Cage as corrupt policeman Rick Santoro, who is roped into an unravelling criminal conspiracy after the murder of the United States Defense Secretary at a heavyweight boxing fight. Gary Sinise plays Kevin Dunne, a U.S. Navy Commander who is in charge of the security detail for the Secretary of Defence and a childhood friend of Santoro. Thinking that determining the circumstances surrounding the assassination of the Secretary will raise his profile, Santoro starts to realize that the fight, the death of the Secretary, and the appearance of his friend are all connected.

Snake Eyes fits into Cage's filmography in a time where he was receiving critical success and after what I consider to be his trilogy of action stardom (The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off), and is often lost or overshadowed by opinions of those movies. Cage is able to slot into the role of Santoro effortlessly, and is the kind of performance one would expect to see from him in an average movie. Snake Eyes benefits, however, from Cage dialing back his usual overflow of unpredictability once the assassination attempt occurs. Santoro is initially portrayed as a corrupt officer whose ability to do his job is in question, but once he takes charge of the investigation with Commander Dunne, he is shown to be an effective investigator. This change in the tone that the character undergoes is something that I enjoy Cage using; it can be almost a cheap shorthand to use Nic Cage as the "goofy, zany, unhinged" character because of such roles as Vampire's Kiss or The Wicker Man have popularized. Snake Eyes allows Cage to partake in this insanity for contextually appropriate levity, while being able to flip a switch and act in a different mode altogether.

The plot for Snake Eyes is fairly straightforward - the corrupt cop whose gambling habits unwittingly gets him swept up into a criminal conspiracy seems to be a cliche and is usually quite tiring. The twist that Gary Sinise's Commander Dunne is the mastermind behind the entire events of the movie occurring nearly half-way through the movie (for the viewers) makes for an entertaining, multi-layered cat-and-mouse game. The betrayal that Santoro feels is earned once he realizes that he was simply meant to be used as an unwitting tool for his longtime friend's scheme - we have known for a while that Dunne is the true villain of the story, so we know that it is only a matter of time before Santoro catches up with the realization. I found it quite amusing that most of his progress on the murder investigation coincided with his personal investigation as to why the boxing fight was thrown, costing Santoro thousands of dollars in loss.

I entered this viewing of Snake Eyes with an overall positive opinion, and left it with the same level of enthusiasm. As stated above, Snake Eyes plays with familiar story tropes but with amusing and often entertaining results. Outside of strong performances from Cage and Sinise, Carla Gugino and Stan Shaw also brought complicated characters to the screen in supporting roles. I think the best way to describe Snake Eyes is that it is the equivalent of comfort food - you know deep down that the food is bad for you, but it provides a sense of comfort or normalcy to your life despite your present circumstances.

Arsenal (2017) - Review

Arsenal (2017) is an action/thriller movie starring Adrian Grenier, Johnathon Schaech, and Nicolas Cage with John Cusack starring in a supporting role. Michael 'Mikey' Lindel (Schaech) is a source of trouble for the Lindel family, especially his brother JP (Grenier). Most of this trouble comes from Mikey's criminal past and current post-jail exploits which causes a constant stream of chaos for his younger brother. Mikey is eventually kidnapped by a local mobster, Eddie King (Cage), and JP must use all of the tools and resources available to him, the most support he receives is from his friend Sal (Cusack) who is working off duty from his role as a police detective, as a successful businessman and upstanding local citizen to get his brother back safe.

Arsenal feels like a product that was trying to be saved by the studio. Related only by studio acquisitions, Arsenal is tied to another Nicolas Cage vehicle from the early 90s, Deadfall. Eddie King as a character was a secondary antagonist in that movie, an unhinged conman underling whose fate was definitely closed. Eddie has since graduated to taking over a portion of the New Orleans crime scene and wielding influence over the Lindel family since Mikey and JP were children. The role of Eddie in the story could have been achieved by any two-bit gangster character that didn't already have a debut in another middling movie nearly 35 years before. It was a nice touch to include Christopher Coppola, Cage's brother, as Eddie's own brother. Chris not only being Cage's brother but also the co-writer and director of Deadfall is another connection point for the studio to mingle easter eggs that do not contribute to the substance of Arsenal. Speaking of substance, there is hardly any substance to Arsenal. There is a theme of brotherhood and being virtuous running throughout, mostly as a critique of Mikey but as a source of consternation for JP. JP cannot leave his brother alone to his consequences due to the sacrifices Mikey made to ensure that JP could live a normal life. This storyline would be compelling if Mikey wasn't deserving of everything coming to him; even though JP has a normal family, successful career, Mikey still has a need to dabble in criminal activities to a force of habit. There is nothing that draws any compassion to either of the brothers though they are constantly placed in dangerous circumstances to draw sympathy. Cusack is vastly underused in this movie where everyone involved is being propped up by a very flimsy script. As an informal consultant for JP doing whatever he can to resolve the situation without much bloodshed, Cusack's Sal almost blends into the background due to how dull everything else is surrounding him.

Arsenal tries to use familiar tropes present in action movies in this era, namely the value of family and friends looking out for each other, but the use of this mechanic is heavy handed when introduced in the opening scene of the movie. The execution of the movie feels dry despite the injection of family values, trust, and loyalty. Including a character who is supposed to have died years earlier only causes confusion, and the only conclusion from which can be made is that there was some heavy studio involvement with the decision to perhaps salvage a project that already had deep flaws.

Deadfall (1993) - Review

Deadfall (1993) is a crime/drama directed by Christopher Coppola starring Michael Biehn, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Trigger, and James Coburn. After a father/son con scheme gone wrong, Joe Donan (Biehn) must face the aftermath of the death of his father (Coburn). Working with his uncle Lou (also Coburn) and his underlings (Trigger, Cage) for various con and gang-related activities, Joe tries to learn more about the complicated history that transpired between his late-father and his father's twin.

The movie is packed with some pretty strong performances, sometimes even in more ways than the usual positive indication. I remember watching Deadfall almost ten years ago and relishing in the pure chaos that Cage brings to the screen as Eddie King, Lou's right hand man. This chaos is an evolution of his exploration of an irrational mind that is also on display in Vampire's Kiss, a review in which I believe his performance in Deadfall is mentioned. There are quotes from Cage that have become iconic within my friend group over the years that have come from this movie specifically, so the influence that this movie has had on my social life is quite great. Nic Cage notwithstanding, Michael Biehn gives a tortured performance out of Joe Donan, not because of any trauma that the character is supposed to have - of which he has plenty - but due to the very thin script he was likely given. Michael Biehn is a great actor, and it shows, Joe Donan is not a very strongly written character. James Coburn, whose face or voice you are likely to come across in a variety of different projects spanning nearly forty years, is always welcome to be on screen, and Deadfall is no exception. Again, the paper-thin characterization of both Lou and Mike Donan, of which he plays both characters, can only be improved so much by the skill Coburn did bring to the performance. The loss of Eddie near the middle of the movie marks a point where the train had already left the station; without the paranoia that Eddie brought out of other characters' perceptions of himself and the lack of trust he has in others, Deadfall meanders to a slow fizzle. The movie itself is a series of short, disconnected confidence jobs leading to an unsatisfying denouement.

Without being reductive of any other aspect of the movie, but Deadfall shines when it has out of this world characters, and the only one who fits the bill is Eddie King. Nicolas Cage, despite his later objections to how his 'freakouts' have been received, breathes life into the otherwise stiff body of this movie. Once his character exits the story, the movie goes back to meandering without a purpose. I enjoy Deadfall to a certain extent, and there is some serious talent that could lift the movie out of its muck and mire, but a bad story can only be helped so much by strong performances.

Birdy (1984) - Review

Birdy is a drama film starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It centers around the efforts of Sgt. Al Columbato to help rehabilitate his childhood friend whom everyone refers to as "Birdy", for his fixation on birds throughout his adolescence. Sgt. Columbato is fresh from his initial recovery from facial reconstruction surgery caused by mines on the Vietnam battlefield and is desperate to regain a sense of normalcy after he himself starts to struggle with losing grip with reality as he tries to reach his friend.

Where Racing with the Moon took a look at the innocence of men before they go to war, Birdy picks up observing the effects of war on the men coming back. This could not be more true since Columbato is himself being observed for troubling psychological behavior while trying to bring his friend back from an already shattered state. Even without any flashbacks, Cage is able to show that Columbato and Birdy have a deep relationship, bringing out an emotional range that I praise in his later movies in one of his first feature films. Al and Birdy form a deep bond in their high school years after Birdy is confronted by local kids who play pick-up baseball in an adjacent lot. After some initial teasing, Al finally puts an end to the torment as he realizes that there is no reason for Birdy to be subjected to it; even though he initially strikes up a friendship to gain a profit by training carrier pigeons, Al sticks with Birdy as Birdy's fascination turns into an eventual hyper-fixation with avian life. I was deeply saddened by Birdy's development in the film, but not because he does anything negative - his fixations are constantly combated by his mother and other children, while there are few people in his life that offer him unconditional love and support (his father and Al). Because the flashbacks take place in what I could assume would be the 50s or 60s, due to the immediate Vietnam connection, mental health care was most likely stigmatized and not very accessible or welcoming for Birdy to achieve any diagnosis that would help him cope with society. The tragedy of Birdy, the character, is that at the start of the movie it is established that he may be too far gone already. Learning more about his fixation with birds cements this already revealed tragedy as Birdy's mind is too fractured and he has finally gotten his wish, which he has had since a teenager, to become a bird.

I was enthralled by Birdy. I didn't know what I was getting into by looking just at the poster for years, but I wasn't expecting a psychological drama. Modine's portrayal of Birdy throughout the film is captivating, especially when his portrayal of the nonresponsive Birdy is a vehicle of progression of character for Cage's Sgt. Columbato. Modine having to handicap himself, to force himself to strip away all emotion during the main plot is a testament to his strengths as an actor. The strength of Birdy is cemented in its abrupt ending, where the audience is left unsettled by the ambiguity. Has the psychosis ended or has Al succumbed to his own? The credits rolling immediately forces the audience struggle with this question, and has forced me to consider it as well for almost a week before sitting down to write this review. I wanted to have an answer as to what I believe the ending of the movie meant to generate a discussion, but nothing I could reason out was satisfying as a conclusion as the filmmakers intended. I will recommend this movie because of the tension that it is still able to generate in audiences nearly forty years after its release. Despite being one of Cage's earliest of movies, Birdy continues to showcase his potential as a leading man even as Cage featured in another pre-war drama (Racing with the Moon) in the same year.