Thursday 16 October 2008

Actor Trial: Nicolas Cage

Another feature thingy has sprung forth from my highly inactive brain, the lazily entitled ' Actor Trial'. Every Monday I will argue the case of an actor who either pisses me off or pisses other people off unrighteously. Up first....




NICOLAS CAGE




The Prosecution: He's a Coppola coat-tail riding bad movie machine, and if he isn't going over the top then he's probably not breathing. A recent movie CV that includes such classics as Next, Bangkok Dangerous, two National Treasures and Ghost Rider. The goodwill he's earnt from a couple of good performances in the early 90's has well and truly worn out its welcome. Then there's the Hamming. Come on Y'all have seen it. The wide eyed, Joker mouthed nutjob face, the indiscrimanate yelling of lines. Youtube ' The Wicker Man' and see all you need to see.
Subtelty and Mr Cage certainly do not go hand in hand. Similarly he has awful taste in film. His rut hasn't just started in the last 5 years, there's all sorts of crap throughout his career and Cage seemingly his little to no interest in subtler roles where he doesn't get to steal the show. All in all, the worst kind of actor, all flash no substance.

The Defence: Erm, no. Cage may be on a bad run right now, but to say he is an actor without merit is to simply be an idiot. The guy has at least 5 truly great performances under his belt and has made films he wants to make rather then just chase Oscars like Sean Penn, Brad Pitt or George Clooney. An actor as comfortable in Con Air as he is in something like Leaving Las Vegas, he has shown a variety not present in many of the other 'movie stars' going today. And as for the argument that he is a spent force, one need only to look to excellent recent output like Lord of War or Adaptation. Fine he may have had a couple of bombs in a row, and yes he can go over the top every now and again. But considering the amount of people that let the same crime slide when its perpetrated by say, Al Pacino. Who has with one or two exception's done only eye-goggling mania since the early 90's. As for the family connection thing, ask Talia Shire if it guarantees you breeze to the top. That may have been his springboard, but Cage would have vanished long ago if he had nothing to offer, and his longevity as a leading man speaks volumes as to how good he really is. Just go watch Adaptation and Shush.

Verdict: A few duds don't make a great actor into a bad one. Cage is profoundly not guilty.

2 comments:

Antonionioni said...

No, but then you can have a great king. The point is he walked into it using family connections. He had it on a plate and then some. and look at the spoilt little boy stuff like marrying Lisa Marie. A wife isn't just for Christmas, Nicky boy. As for his acting, i try to avoid his films, so I can't dispute the argument...

Louis Baxter said...

dude, don't judge an artist by how they got there or why they do it. Thats just way not the point. You can only criticise them as actors for bad performances. You can't say he's a bad actor coz you disagree with his personal choices.