* * * * (out of 4 stars)
I figured I would start things off right, with what I consider to be one of Cage's finest (most ridiculous) performances. I couldn't really choose the best quote from this one, so I just went with the most obvious. Just about every line is classic... from his astounding rendition of the alphabet to his weird crying sounds.
Cage plays Peter Loew, a publishing executive and huge asshole who, after a one-night-stand with a vampire (Jennifer Beals), thinks he's turning into one. This basically just makes him a bigger asshole and also bat-shit crazy. It makes for some fine scenes between an insane Loew and his secretary, Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso), which basically just consist of him flipping-out in a way never before captured on film. I really feel that these are the type of roles that Nicolas Cage excels at. Any other actor would be afraid to take it as far as he does here, but I have a feeling that in order to successfully direct Nicolas Cage in a "crazy" roll, you probably have to constantly tell him to do less.
Cage speaks in a strange accent for the entire film with no explanation. There has been much debate as to whether or not he was attempting a British accent, but I do not believe he was. There is a scene in one of the National Treasure movies where he tries to use a British accent, and while it's terrible, it is at least obvious what he is attempting to do. Granted, there are about 20 years between the two films, but I think he probably spent most of that time doing coke and living beyond his means (which is very impressive for someone with an 8-figure salary) and not very much of it improving his "acting."
Anyway, this movie is fucking great. It's maybe the only film I've ever watched that is both so-bad-it's-good and actually legitimately good at the same time. I don't even know how that's possible.
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| craziness:
* * * *
His performance is not quite as crazy as what he does in Deadfall, but the fact that he has so much more screen time and that the film centers around his insanity compels me to give it the highest rating. Just to give you some insight, the above photo is from the first part of the film before he was supposed to be insane. |
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| hair implausibility: (0 stars) His hair-style is kind of goofy with the highlights and all, but is entirely plausible as being an actual hair-style. |
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| love interest implausibility: * He was still young here, and both Jennifer Beals and Kasi Lemmons are actually slightly older than Cage (something that would NEVER happen in the later part of his career). I gave it the one star instead of zero because it does seem to imply that Cage could walk into any bar in New York and find a woman who wanted to have sex with him within seconds. |
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