Mine is probably Raising Arizona but Face/Off is so over-the-top absurd that I actually kind of love it. Unspeakably stupid is bang on.
My memory of a Cage movie is when he was filming across from my basement apartment at the Montreal Forum - Face Off (shit movie).
Best movie: Wild at Heart
Wild at Heart by David Lynch was like Down by Law by Jim Jarmusch in that it was really hard to get a hard copy of the movies, but maybe that’s changed.
Next
Not a popular movie, but I liked it.
Adding another Raising Arizona.
I forgot that he didn’t have any lines in Ridgemont High. I thought he said “We serve no fries before their time” but I guess that was Judge Reinhold.
I also liked him in ‘Rumble Fish’ where he played Smokey, with I think Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon. It was very reflective of some of the older kids in my neighborhood.
I haven’t seen many, but I am a very basic movie watcher, so I pick National Treasure. I am also looking forward to Spiderman Noir or whatever it’s called.
No brainer for me. Raising Arizona by far, with Moonstruck a strong but distant second place.
Raising Arizona - It’s like the Coen’s said “We need to make a movie with Nic Cage as the lead.” So they wrote it, cast him in it, then gave it a tremendous supporting cast who all brought their A game.
Another vote for Raising Arizona.
For the record, that was Jessica Biel not Jessica Alba.
Raising Arizona is #1 for fun Nic; I saw it in its original run @ a repertory movie theater in downtown Cincinnati & also saw a great actor with an animated spirit in him, especially that voice over he does for Hi’s dream sequence @ the end. #2 for fun is totally Valley Girl, dude!
But Wild at Heart is Nicolas Cage’s coolest performance, dark but with Sailor’s passion for all of life & shining with his love for Lulu. Throw in Willem Dafoe as the weird & wicked Bobby, a definite cinematic trip in Nic’s filmography. #2 but only because it’s not much fun at all is
Leaving Las Vegas, a performance that deserved his receiving an Oscar.
I think probably Lord of War
Raising Arizona
I liked Kick-Ass a lot, but it’s not my favorite of his movies. I’m a bit surprised it hasn’t been mentioned more in this thread.
Raising Arizona.
Oh yeah I’d forgotten that one. I’d actually say that’s my favourite.
I’m probably Raising Arizona, partly because I’ve never been able to rewatch Leaving Las Vegas, which I vaguely remember as a better movie. I watched Face/Off with my 17yo daughter recently, and was giggling through the whole thing. I don’t know if she got what I thought was so funny about this, the pinnacle of over-the-top 20th-century action flicks, but she had fun.
I admit a soft spot in my heart for his turn as Dracula in Renfield. It was so on-brand for him that I had a great time with it.
Raising Arizona or Kick-Ass
Adaptation
Runners-up in no particular order: Kick-Ass, Massive Talent, & Matchstick Men
Valley Girl was the first Nicolas Cage movie that I remember him from, and he didn’t impress me at the time. However, for some reason I just rewatched it recently (hey, I like the movie, I admit it) and his performance is very sweet and smart. For instance, he does this little dance on his girlfriend’s sidewalk after kissing her goodnight that’s so memorable.
I’m sure there are others, but one that came to mind was “Renfield.”
Of the silly Nicholas Cage action romps I’d only consider Con Air. Face Off and The Rock are just not that enjoyable. None of them are in my list of best action movies but Con Air is actually an enjoyable movie, the other two are just dumb and boring movie that can’t be saved by expensive action sequences IMO.