A Cage-a thon...it's like a marathon but more baffling

I've always liked Nicolas Cage. He's the type of actor who takes risks with his performances. Some people might not take to dressing up in a bear suit and punching a woman in the face before yelling maniacally about the "bees....not the bees! Noooooooooo!" From being Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (or Ass-kick more appropriately) to being a agent of Satan in Ghost Rider to whatever the hell it was that was going on in Wild At Heart.... I'm on a streaming Thursday so let me give you some films that may or may not be good but definitely have two things in common... they can be streamed on Netflix and they are Cagey...

Face/Off

John Woo takes the insane and makes art from it. Action flows out of slow motion doves and insane gun fights. If someone were to make an action film I wrote, I would want it to be John Woo. He is a master. Face/Off is one of those movies where Nicolas Cage is insane and lively and jumping from place to place because he can. What makes this performance so good is that in the middle of the movie, Cage's role is switched from the amazingly bombastic Castor Troy to the depressed controlled Sean Archer (John Travolta). It is a movie of choices. To see Cage become Travolta and in turn Travolta become Cage is amazing. Small details in each of the performances take on the nuances of their alternate personalities. The movie is a fun action movie with a little heart. When Travolta (playing Castor Troy) tells Sean's daughter how to deal with an overly amorous  boyfriend is priceless and some of the scenes involving Cage as Sean trying to convince his wife that he is her husband but just wearing the face of the man she despises is heartbreaking. There is a lot going on here and it is a must see.

 Mr. Unhappy sez: Cage is both out of control and the pillar of control... the same cannot be said often.

Snake Eyes 

Snake Eyes is the type of movie you've come to expect from Cage. It is strong to start with. An assassination at a sporting event during a storm gives a corrupt detective the chance to solve the case of his life. Everyone is a liar and by the end many double crosses happen. Still Cage is out of control, a cop as a gangster and an out of control addict. The movie is uneven at best (a common problem for Cage movies) and the ending is a little hackneyed. I enjoy this movie and use it to put myself to sleep. Yes it is that type of movie too. It's worth a watch but in the end, it isn't that great except that it is.

Mr. Unhappy sez: Sometimes the world gives you a chance at making a great movie and sometimes you bungle it...this is that story.

The Frozen Ground

 

 

Nicolas Cage is often at his best when paired with an actor with some sort of ability. It is like a good wrestler taking the wild out of control dangerous wrestler and taming him to make a good match. Cage did this with Travolta in Face/Off and here with John Cusak, he is again strong and steady.  Cage is a detective chasing a serial killer who kidnaps prostitutes and kills them in Alaska. Vanessa Hudgens is effective as the whore that got away. It is a good movie but still unmemorable. I don't understand how the movie could have been better but in the end I felt like it could have been better. Still of all the Nicolas Cage movies here... it is one of the better ones.

Mr. Unhappy sez: Typical serial killer movie but a good cast steps it up a notch and makes it one any fan of the subject matter should see. Cage is remarkably controlled and the movie is better for it.

Left Behind

This is a movie that I knew was gonna be bad. Based on a Christian Fiction book and a Kirk Cameron movie of the same title. In it the rapture happens and those left behind are left to deal with the aftermath of not being chosen by God to share Heaven. I think what kills this movie is that the story itself just fails to be...welll... a cohesive story. Sometimes movies just aren't a good idea. I can see why they made the movie (the original and it's sequels made a crapload of money) but this movie is just awful. Not good Sharknado bad but Wicker Man bad. I cannot tell you how bored and mystified I was with this movie. One can hope they don't keep trying to steal good Christian people's money by cranking out a sequel to this pile of garbage. Christians don't know any better. They support it because of God...not because it is good. 

Mr. Unhappy sez: Cage can be good and Cage can be bad and sometimes Cage can be just in a God awful movie.... but more than that...Cage could have been Super...man.

 

You can also see National Treasure, Rage, Joe, Moonstruck (snap out of it), Seeking Justice, Kiss of Death, Racing With the Moon, and Trespass on Netflix.....if you want to Cage till your eyes bleed. Me, I'm good after 4....