Nicholas Cage

[chowder]

Has this person ever made an even half decent film?

I watched Ghost Rider last night...what a load of absolute bollocks.

When it was finished I wondered if Cage just takes any offer made to him because as sure as eggs are eggs he's one lousy actor

[One And Only Wanderers]

For a given definition of half decent, sure

Now, I'll be the first to admit I have low standards when it comes to movies, but Nicolas Cage movies I have enjoyed include

Leaving Las Vegas
Con Air
The Rock

but of course, YMMV

I agree that Ghostrider was pants though.

[Argent Towers]

Has this person ever made an even half decent film?

Yes. Wild At Heart. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100935/) That's pretty much the only one I can think of.

Also it's Nicolas Cage. No "h."

[Dead Badger]

Raising Arizona, don't forget that. Can't agree with Con Air or The Rock, I'm afraid, but Leaving Las Vegas is so perfect I'm prepared to forgive him any number of terrible action movies. Even Elisabeth Shue is fantastic in the latter; I don't know what Mike Figgis said to the two of them, but it worked.

I view him as a like a slightly higher class of Keanu: a mostly-terrible actor who has nevertheless somehow found a few roles for which he is absolutely perfect.

Perhaps it's something to do with gerunds and western states. Someone pitch a movie called "Anticipating Idaho" and see if he bites.

[Staggerlee]

I hate Nicholas Cage in more or less everything except Adaptation (http://imdb.com/title/tt0268126/) in which he is great. Maybe it's the sadistic pleasure in seeing him playing a really frustrated sad bastard. Which reminds me; Leaving Las Vegas is pretty good too.

[Kalhoun]

Loved him in Birdie and a ton of other stuff. A shit movie can rarely be saved by a good actor (Ghost Rider sucked). But he's a really good actor in the right part.

He's a really strange guy, though. REALLY strange. The whole Elvis thing is just too weird.

[HongKongFooey]

I'm not a big fan of Nicolas Cage but I did enjoy Matchstick Men.

[The Them]

Have to second Wild at Heart; Cage and Laura Dern really found their groove there. Also features Willem Dafoe, who knows how to do a great villain.

The others? Meh at best.

[Khadaji]

How to tell if you are watching a bad Nicholas Cage Movie (http://www.thejay.com/2007/02/09/bad-nicolas-cage-movie/)

I don't hate him, but I do agree he is a mediocre talent.

[BMalion]

I enjoyed National Treasure.

[GuanoLad]

Yeah, National Treasure is better than it ought to be.

[brujaja]

I am a sick, sick puppy.




I think he's hot. Very hot. Can't help it.

[lieu]

I can't imagine anyone else doing for Raising Arizona what Nick did and he was so convincing in Leaving Las Vegas that I absolutely hated the movie in that it was such a painful, horrible situation to witness.

As to Ghost Rider though... did you not see the trailer? That thing had GIANT SMELLY SUCKBUS written all over it.

[as_u_wish]

I'm also not sure why Mr. Cage trips my trigger--but he surely does. Average actor, many mediocre movies, but first-rate fantasy fodder. National Treasure and Con Air are re-watchable background movies.

[phungi]

I thought he was great in Valley Girl, for sure!

[ArizonaTeach]

How could you not love Werewolf Women of the SS?

Philistine.

[Bayard]

I think he's a pretty decent actor. Aside from the aforementioned Leaving Las Vegas, Matchstick Men, and Adaptation, he also wasn't bad in Lord of War. But I agree, he picks some dumb movies.

[JohnT]

Moonstruck.

"I'm no friggin' monument to justice! I lost my hand! I lost my bride! Johnny has his hand! Johnny has his bride! You want me to take my heartache, put it away and forget?"

[gwendee]

He's not the worst actor by a long shot. He makes movies I enjoy watching, but don't watch for purposes of enlightenment. I'll leave Snake Eyes or Gone in 60 Seconds on the TV while I pay bills or clip coupons.

Not every movie needs to have deep intellectual impact. I think part of the appeal is that he's an unexpected action hero.

I thought he did act well in Birdie, and later in Matchstick Men. Maybe the roles in Moonstruck and Peggy Sue Got Married weren't as subtle or refined, but he played them well.

His accent in Con Air seems completely unnecessary and is at times distracting, but it's a good movie to fold wash to. And as ridiculous as pretty much everything about it was, I find watching Cage act like Travolta acting like him (and vice versa) in Face/Off pretty entertaining.

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Vampire's Kiss was one of the best acting performances I've ever seen. The movie wasn't great, but his acting was. He's a much better actor than Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks. Hanks, in particular, is an atrocious actor. They just get the better parts.

[Hampshire]

I used to like his work and looked forward to his upcoming movies. But there was a turning point where I thought they became crap.

Raising Arizona
Wild At Heart
Honeymoon In Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas
The RocK
Con Air
Face/Off

I liked all these but then it seemed to go downhill from there starting maybe with
Snake Eyes
or
8MM

I lost interest at that point.

[Einmon]

I like Nicolas Cage fairly well, I've enjoyed ConAir, and Face/Off, and Matchstick Men, and even City of Angels.

However! I feel it is my duty to caution you all to never ever watch "Next", which stars Nicolas Cage AND his hair (http://www.etonline.com/photo/2007/09/31573/400_ncage_next_070924_paramounthomeent.jpg), possibly in two separate roles (http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/startracks/070122/nicolas_cage.jpg). No, seriously, it was that bad. Not enough to distract you from the suckitude of the movie overall, mind.

[BrainGlutton]

Another vote for Leaving Las Vegas. One of those utterly depressing films you find yourself enjoying anyway.

[RealityChuck]

Nicholas Cage made quite a few good films:

Peggy Sue Got Married
Raising Arizona
Moonstruck
Honeymoon in Vegas
It Could Happen to You. (http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2007/12/it-could-happen-to-you-1994.html)
Leaving Las Vegas
The Rock
Adaptation
Matchstick Men

National Treasure while not a great film, is entertaining.

Cage made a conscious decision after years of getting good reviews on films with poor box office to start taking on action hero roles. Many of these are just terrible. He's much better in his lower profile roles.

[phungi]

Moonstruck.

"I'm no friggin' monument to justice! I lost my hand! I lost my bride! Johnny has his hand! Johnny has his bride! You want me to take my heartache, put it away and forget?"
How could I forget this one? Such a great performance... he carried this movie, in spite of Cher. Two of my favorite scenes:
They say bread is life. And I bake bread, bread, *bread*. And I sweat and shovel this stinkin' dough in and out of this hot hole in the wall, and I should be so happy! Huh, sweetie?

We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die. The storybooks are bullshit. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and get in my bed!

[Bosstone]

Con Air is fantastic. I used to drop everything to watch it whenever it showed on TV.

The problem with Ghost Rider isn't that he's necessarily a bad actor. It's that he's a huge comic book geek. I mean, huge. He was a celebrity DJ for a while on an XM radio station to promote the movie and was geeking out all over the place. While that does a lot to ensure faithfulness in plot and details, as Peter Jackson did with Lord of the Rings, it meant that the lead role was being played by a fanboy, and Cage didn't do a good job of hiding it. He just marked out through the whole movie.

[AlmondJoy]

Valley Girl! his role as Randy is pretty amazing. and Raising Arizona is another good film of his

[chowder]

I am a sick, sick puppy.




I think he's hot. Very hot. Can't help it.

There's always one

[Hal Briston]

What the hell? People, people...a little film called Fast Times at Ridgemont High, maybe?

Sheesh...

[Hockey Monkey]

There's always one


Make that two.

[Pixilated]

I loved in him the Family Man

That's about the only movie I liked with him in it other than The Weather Man.

[squeegee]

How could I forget this one? Such a great performance... he carried this movie, in spite of Cher.And don't forget Olympia Dukakis, she was also great:
"Old man, you give those dogs another piece of my food and I'm gonna kick you 'til you're dead!"

"Do you love him, Loretta?" "Aw, ma, I love him awful." "Oh, God, that's too bad."

Cage's was an overwrought role, but he was great in it.

[Dr. Rieux]

City of Angels is one of my favorites.

[even sven]

Nobody is going to bring up Lord of War? It's one of the best movies ever made. If I went to grad school in film, I'd want to write my thesus about it.

For pure so-stupid-it's-great it's hard to beat Con Air and National Treasure.

A few weeks ago I was in Yaounde, our national capitol. As I as drinking my beer (trente trois bien glace) one of the people selling pirate VCDs came around. On top was the Nicolas Cage Collection. I coughed up the two dollars and bought it, even though it was in French, my linguistic enemy. Then I got home and discovered it was in English! Maybe the best day ever.

[outlierrn]

Cage movies I dig:
raising arizona
birdie
the rock
moonstruck
redrock west
honeymoon in vegas
amos and andrew
firebirds (hangs head, it's really tommy lee jones that I dig in that movie)



leaving las vegas? gag, don't know if it's just me, but as an actual alcoholic is just don't ring true to me.

[Bayard]

Nobody is going to bring up Lord of War?
me, post 17

[even sven]

me, post 17

I think we need a new law, along the lines of "If you say 'why has nobody mentioned X?', X will always be mentioned a few posts above."

[smiling bandit]

Cage is often very good when he's in something "unexpected". If it's a "name" movie, it will probably suck.

[Lemur866]

Since Raising Arizona is a movie that shines with gemlike perfection, it cannot be that Nicolas Cage completely sucks. He's not a great actor, but he can be extremely effective in certain roles.

I agree I haven't seen him in anything good in the last decade, though.

[Leviosaurus]

You mean, I'm really the only one who liked Ghost Rider?

I mean, it's a silly movie, sure, but c'mon - it's Ghost Rider. One of the dumbest comic book heroes of all time. There was absolutely no way it was going to be a good movie - nohow nuh uh, not gonna happen. Consider that most motorcycle movies are about the same level as Torque (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329691/) (which I would nominate as the worst movie of all time.) Then add in 'really dumb superhero idea (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081693/)'. Then you're doing a 'motorcycle movie with a dumb superhero' and you really should already know it's a stinker.

Despite that, Ghost Rider is a fun movie all the way through. In terms of context, I'd say that's a heck of an accomplishment.

[cmkeller]

Bosstone:

It's that he's a huge comic book geek. I mean, huge. He was a celebrity DJ for a while on an XM radio station to promote the movie and was geeking out all over the place.

No kidding. He even name one of his sons Kal-El. Could you imagine if that kid marries Apple Paltrow? Would she start calling herself App-El?

[pravnik]

I think of Nicolas cage as a good actor who occassionally appears in some campy, if not downright crappy, movies. When he's on and in a good movie he's awesome, and he has the ability to make even a crappy movie fun and/or watchable. Take him out of the mix and the movie would have been named [i]Gone in Five Seconds[/url].

[Drunky Smurf]

You mean, I'm really the only one who liked Ghost Rider?

I mean, it's a silly movie, sure, but c'mon - it's Ghost Rider. One of the dumbest comic book heroes of all time. There was absolutely no way it was going to be a good movie - nohow nuh uh, not gonna happen. Consider that most motorcycle movies are about the same level as Torque (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329691/) (which I would nominate as the worst movie of all time.) Then add in 'really dumb superhero idea (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081693/)'. Then you're doing a 'motorcycle movie with a dumb superhero' and you really should already know it's a stinker.

Despite that, Ghost Rider is a fun movie all the way through. In terms of context, I'd say that's a heck of an accomplishment.
I like Ghost Rider too. I'm also a Ghost Rider fanboy with comics and dolls action figures and it was better than I was expecting.

Overall I think Cage is a good actor not great but good.

[SaharaTea]

Peggy Sue Got Married is a good film, but it's certainly no thanks to Cage's ridiculous voice and acting. The studio, director, and writers were all embarrassed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Sue_Got_Married) by it.

[Rattlehead02]

I can't believe I'm only the second person to mention The Weather Man. He was great in that movie! He plays "dry" very well, I think.

I bet Harriet Tubman never got hit with a pie.

[Iggins]

Not a good actor, in my opinion, of course. I think it's his nasally, whiny delivery. That being said, he has grown on me. <b>National Treasure</b> (as mentioned) was better than it should have been. I liked <b>Face/Off</b>, even though it was a terrible, terrible movie and he wasn't good in it.

[Happy Scrappy Hero Pup]

"Gone in Sixty Seconds" is the best non-porn porn there is.

AND it has Angelina Jolie in it.

If you don't like "Gone in Sixty Seconds," your man card should be pulled.

[Sauron]

Make that two.

There can be only one.

[Monstera deliciosa]

I am a sick, sick puppy.




I think he's hot. Very hot. Can't help it.

You're not sick. I never thought he was anything to look at until he visited the museum where I used to work. His bone structure is exquisite, and his eyes go right through you. In person, he is a strikingly attractive man. On film, not so much.

[Absolute]

I am also surprised at how few people are citing Lord of War. I dislike Nicolas Cage, but that was a great movie.

[ouryL]

For a given definition of half decent, sure

Now, I'll be the first to admit I have low standards when it comes to movies, but Nicolas Cage movies I have enjoyed include

Leaving Las Vegas
Con Air
The Rock

but of course, YMMV

I agree that Ghostrider was pants though.

In Con Air, there is a chilling scene when Nick Cage says the words, "Put down da bunny!". :o

[Brown Eyed Girl]

I think he's hot. Very hot. Can't help it.
Yes. Yes. Yes. It's his hands. He has wicked hands. :D

I liked his portrayals in Adaptation and Matchstick Men. I thought he was entertaining in Vampire's Kiss, although I didn't like the movie much. His performance in Raising Arizona was hilarious, as was Peggy Sue Got Married. I hated Honeymoon in Vegas as well as Leaving Las Vegas, although that probably has more to do with Sarah Ijustthrewupinmymouth Parker and Elizabeth Shue. He meshed well with Shirley Maclaine in Guarding Tess. But Face/Off was great acting with a really stupid premise. Regardless, both Travolta and Cage performed clever portrayals of each other, although Travolta appeared to have had more fun with it. The others mentioned I found kind of meh.

Ghostrider was just a bad, bad movie and nobody could have saved it.

Still. I'd hit that. Without a doubt. :D

[medstar]

In Con Air, there is a chilling scene when Nick Cage says the words, "Put down da bunny!". :o


I believe the quote was, "Put the bunny back in the box!", delivered in that horrible southern accent that he was butchering. I must confess that every time I see that movie, I drop what I'm doing and watch it.

[Jophiel]

I can't believe I'm only the second person to mention The Weather Man. He was great in that movie! He plays "dry" very well, I think.Huh. So there's three of us.

I'll be damned.

[Yookeroo]

Cage is often very good when he's in something "unexpected". If it's a "name" movie, it will probably suck.

Yeah. I really like a lot of his early work. Seems at one point he decided to go after big money and he's become less interesting since then. But he still does some good work (e.g. Matchstick Men & Adaptation).

[Ellis Dee]

I am also surprised at how few people are citing Lord of War. I dislike Nicolas Cage, but that was a great movie.The reason few are mentioning this excellent film is because nobody saw it on cable. It seems that Nicolas Cage is a throwback to the old studio system, where he works mainly with one studio, and that studio has an exclusive deal with Showtime. HBO has two to three times the subscriber base that Showtime has, so anything exclusive to Showtime will often be met with crickets in threads like these.

The more recent Nicolas Cage movies you could have seen on HBO or Starz, with year and imdb rating:

2007 Next (6.2)
2007 Ghost Rider (5.3)
2006 Wicker Man (3.5)

The ones you had to have Showtime to see:

2006 World Trade Center (6.4)
2005 The Weather Man (7.0)
2005 Lord of War (7.7)

It's not surprising that the plurality has a negative impression of Nicolas Cage movies. It's really too bad that of the last six movies he's made that hit cable, the three shitty ones went to a wide audience while the three quality ones languished in obscurity.

Even still, people seem to have a short memory considering that the three films he made immediately before these six were all carried on HBO or Starz, and all ranged from good to very good:

2004 National Treasure (6.8)
2003 Matchstick Men (7.4)
2002 Adaption (7.8)



Note that due to selection bias, new releases have inflated imdb ratings. In short, the only people who seek out new releases are those who are predisposed to enjoy them. As time goes on, more and more of a general audience will see it and the rating will come down to its final resting place. Figure a movie released in the last year will drop .75, and one from two years ago will drop .5. Three years is about how long it will take to settle.

This phenomenon also permeates new release threads on the SDMB. Ever notice how a new release thread will start with a ton of "that was great!" type posts, followed by a bunch of "wow, I can't believe so many people liked this turd" posts? Same idea.

ETA: I expect that Next will drop a full point at least.

[panache45]

Make that two.
Three. Ok, there are plenty of other guys I'd do before him, but he's on the list somewhere. I thought he was very hot in Moonstruck, whether all hot & sweaty by the pizza ovens, or all tuxed up at the Met.

Well, ok, the hand was a major turn-off, but that was the character, not him.

[NajaNivea]

I thought he was great in Valley Girl, for sure!
Don't you mean "like, so totally great, fer shur"?
;)

[GameHat]

I really, really liked Bringing Out the Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163988/)

Definitely not Scorsese's best, but possibly his most underrated.

Nicky ain't bad in it.