Nicolas Cage. Yes, that Nicolas Cage. We all know him, or of him, though to some he’s more of a living meme than an actual person or actor.
And frankly, he deserves many of the internet-based thrashings he’s received. He’s been in some objectively awful movies, with his roles being enjoyable only in an ironic, meta “Oh my god look at Nic Cage try to act” sort of way.
But, if we may pretend, for one second, that Nic Cage deserves at least a fair trial before a jury of his peers, and if I may for one second play devil’s advocate, I’d like to argue that Nicolas Cage’s greatest failings are not as a thespian, but as a homo sapiens.
Let me stand before you today, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, and assert that while Nicolas Horatio Cage (probably not his middle name) may not make the best life decisions, or even good life decisions, he can, in the right situations, with the right people and right direction, be a great actor.
Yes, he’s done the “National Treasure” and “Ghost Rider” movies (dear lord, they both got sequels?), and the legacy of “The Wicker Man” and “Face/Off” will haunt him always, and yes, he deserves ridicule for that.
But what I’m asking you to do now is to look a little deeper.
What I’m asking you to do now is to ignore these obvious transgressions against the cinematic world, grievous as they may be, and let me put forth a word in the defense of this poor, maligned, Gollum-like creature.
I want you to look at the man behind the very, very entertaining monster, and realize that Nicolas Cage is, quite possibly, clinically insane. He could not hold his life together if he was waiting for the glue to dry.
The man should not be trusted with money. He just shouldn’t. And, unfortunately, actors tend to be given a lot of money. This is a bad, bad combination that will lead to an actor desperate to take whatever he can get in the way of work. Remember that—it’ll be important later.
I want you to also look at the movies he made before he was so publicly insane. Go on a journey with me, if you will, to a strange land where Nicolas Cage’s name was not a punchline, but a reason to see a movie.
Let’s look at a movie called “Raising Arizona,” directed by the Coen Brothers, in which Nic Cage has the leading role as an ex-con trailer trash baby-napper. And he’s great. He’s extremely sympathetic, relatable even, and even though this owes as much to the Coens’ writing as it does to his acting, he regardless turns in a superb performance.
Let’s look too at his most interesting role(s), that/those of both Charlie and Donald Kaufman in the Charlie Kaufman written, Spike Jonze directed “Adaptation.”
He plays both the writer of the screenplay and his (imaginary) twin brother as one struggles to adapt a book about orchids and the other works on what is, according to the pair’s mother, a “psychologically tense thriller.”
It’s exactly as insane as it sounds. Charlie and his (imaginary) brother Donald are as different as can be, but both are brilliantly portrayed by Cage. He clearly knows what he’s doing—to the point of earning an Oscar nomination for it/them.
Oh, you didn’t know Nic Cage was nominated for an Oscar? Did you know that he’s won one?
Yeah, he sorta won for “Leaving Las Vegas,” a film in which he suitably earned his award. And do you know why? Because Nicolas Cage can act… well.
Remember that whole “horrible at life” thing from earlier? Yeah, he can’t hold onto money, so he has to take bad roles to cover the bills, you know, but why does that make him any different from most crappy actors who only appear in crap movies?
The difference is he actually is a good actor. His early movies can prove it. His later movies just prove that he’s bad at being an adult. But he’s a good actor.
That’s the reason why his failures are always so high-profile and so spectacular. Because he’s a talented, committed actor who happens to appear in movies like “Bad Lieutenant” and “Drive Angry” in order to pay the bills.
And, because he’s such a talented actor, he fully commits to every role, which is why things like “The Wicker Man” seem so ridiculous—because really, they are. They’re entertaining. They’re magnificent. They’re ridiculous. But they’re also sort of sad.
Just like Nic Cage.
Are you one of the people who ironically enjoyed “Ghost Rider 2?” Or do you agree that Nicholas Cage is actually a good actor who takes on too many bad roles? Email Austin at wellens@wisc.edu
