I thought i would have a change of pace this post instead of yet another glorious review, and, seeing as the past two films i have given 5 stars two, AND star the ever eccentric-to-batshit crazy Nicolas Cage, i thought i would do a nice retrospective on the top 11 (10 is too safe) craziest roles of Nicolas Cage.
This man is one of the most recognisable actors in Hollywood, with his odd yet leading man looks, a face that begun a wonderful meme (see him as everyone here - http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/), a man with a voice which is a smoother offbeat Jimmy Stewart as well as a man who hotly contested actors of recent times, especially due to his hairpieces.
The neice of director Francis Ford Coppola, he began his career with a great slew of wonderful/crazy roles that firmly established not only his ability to act, but his general kookiness. By the middle 90s he decided to branch out and, with the help of bosum-buddy Jerry Bruckheimer, so began the career of action-Nic Cage, with some aimiable works at start, with the fantastic Face/Off, the guilty awesome pleasure of Con Air, and the lesser yet still entertaining The Rock (Sean Connery kicked-ass as usual). However Action-Nic Cage continued on into the 00s and began starring in some quite average-to-horrible fare, including the National Treasure series, Ghost Rider, Next and Bangkok Dangerous. With the help of SOME OF THE WORST/MOST DISTURBING HAIRPIECES KNOWN TO MAN, Cage became something of a negatively treated figure in the eyes of audiences, a once great Oscar-winning actor who lost his way.
In 2009-2010 however came two saving graces, Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans and Kick-Ass, both of which marked the return of not only quality, but a rather a return of the Nicolas Cage of old: Mr Kooky, Mr Unhinged, Mr Eccentric, MR BAT-SHIT-CAAARRAZZZZAYYYY!!! So, this list shall chronicle his best kooky-insane roles, the roles in which he should be encouraged to pursue, the man is obviously not normal, he should be encouraged to act like a crazy man!
LET US BEGIN!
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11) Birdy (1984)
Director - Alan Parker
Synopsis - Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam war. One of them (Matthew Modine) has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend (Nicolas Cage) help him pull through?
Why? - Cage isnt necessarily the craziest person in the film, that goes to Matthew Modine, playing Birdy, whose love for birds becomes more than a obsession, thats making him collect birds, kiss birds, sleep with birds, create a feathersuit and try to fly, all leading to a mental hospital. Cage plays another veteren and friend, Sgt. Alfonso ‘Al’ Columbato, who is quite jocky and level-headed to begin with, but as his friendship with Birdy grows, so does the insanity. Its more out of desperation, but only Cage could deliver it in such a way.
Quote - I don’t trust the guy. Everything’s too interesting to him.
Craze Factor - 4/10
Watch - Birdy Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfGwJGrLz2w
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10) Kick-Ass (2010)
Director - Matthew Vaughn
Synopsis - Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.
Why? - Here Cage plays Big Daddy, very much a satire on Batman in all its forms. While his believes in violently murdering all crime in the city with the help of his violently talented daughter Hit-Girl are sound, the normal society sees how crazy it truly is. There are so many hilariously odd sequences that seem perfectly sane in the eyes of his character, such as testing Hit-Girls bulletproof vest by practicing shooting her, and also the subsequent eating scene. Outside the suit is also hilariously lame, channeling very father-like humour. Inside the suit however, its an another amazingly kooky situation altogether, channelling the hilariously cheesy speaking patterns of Adam West’s Batman. So great.
Quote -
Mindy Macready (Hit-Girl) : I’m just fucking with you Daddy… I’d love a bench made model 42 butterfly knife!
Damon Macready (Big-Daddy): [relieved] Oh, child… You always knock me for a loop!
Craze Factor - 5/10
Watch - Kick-Ass Red Band Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7vFOno6_BI
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9) Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
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Director - Mike Figgis
Synopsis - Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
Why? - This is Cage’s Oscar Winning performance and deservedly so, displaying a believable, tortured portrait of a man at his end, literally drinking himself to death, done to such finite detail, making it a heartbreakingly great performance. He also lets out the crazy quite well, in his almost constant drunkedness, trying to chat up bar women in hilarious ways, getting in fights, and in a sad yet humourous way make fun of his morbid situation. Its an emotive performance, but covered underneath a cheerful kookiness.
Quote - ”Look at me… I’m a prickly pear.”
Craze Factor - 6/10
Watch - Leaving Las Vegas Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMlYWZgCIgo
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8) Face/Off (1997)
Director - John Woo
Synopsis - A revolutionary medical technique allows an undercover agent, Sean Archer (John Travolta) to take the physical appearance of a major criminal, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) and infiltrate his organization.
Why? - This is the only all out action movie on the list, and why it makes it is because it allows Nicolas Cage and John Travolta to let loose on the crazy, playing both the hero at one point and the villain. Sure Travolta does make for an excellent crazy when he assumes Troy, but it is Cage who edges him out just, playing Castor Troy with an insane cartoonish glee (Suck my tongue) and becomes somewhat more unsettlingly crazy as he assumes Archer, trying to act like Troy. Its glorious stuff
Quote - “I’d like to take his..his face…off.”
Craze Factor - 7/10
Watch - I’d like to take his…his face…off scene - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvb4E3oN4w0
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7) Wild At Heart (1990)
Director - David Lynch
Synopsis - Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula’s mom has hired to kill Sailor.
Why? - Here, Cage fits in perfectly in the warped world of David Lynch as Sailor, a fantastic mix of James Dean and mostly Elvis, who is loud, intense, and one half of a strange strange yet ever loving couple, balanced in craze by the wonderful Laura Dern as Lula. He has many great elements, the offbeat lines that Cage could only deliver in such a way, the crazed jumping around and kicking to the heavy metal music only to be contrasted with Elvis songs amongst others (he sings all his songs), and also has a wonderfully surreal encounter with the White Witch. Its the layered eccentricity you want from Cage.
Quote - “This is a snakeskin jacket! And for me it’s a symbol of my individuality, and my belief… in personal freedom.”
Craze Factor - 7/10
Watch - Wild At Heart First Scene - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmof9ax_GS0
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6) The Wicker Man (2006)
Director - Neil La Bute
Synopsis - A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there’s a larger mystery to solve among the island’s secretive, neo-pagan community.
Why? - This remake of the 1973 classic horror film is an insanely shit movie on so many levels, acting, script, direction, purely turgid. Here Cage isnt given much hope for quality, but in terms of craziness, there is some really loopy gold, such as some really strange lines, cheesy overacting, especially in the bee hat and when he gets burned, and of course when he dresses in a bearsuit and decides to punch a bunch of women. This crazy behaviour makes this actually entertaining on a so-bad-it’s-good-level.
Quote - Is this hers? How’d it get burned? How’d it get burned? HOW’D IT GET BURNED, HOW’D IT GET BURNED?
Craze Factor - 8/10
Watch - The Best Scenes From The Wicker Man - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo
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5) Matchstick Men (2003)
Director - Ridley Scott
Synopsis - A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former’s teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
Why? - This is a film you wouldn’t expect of Ridley Scott, but he handles it well and casts accordingly well, giving Cage a role prime for kookiness, as Roy, the obsessive compulsive con-artist. The craziness is mostly in the details and the frustration. The funny nervous ticks, his detail in cleaning and obsessive compulsiveness. He gives some fantastically strange lines brought on within the mess that is his disorder, making for great kooky moments, such as lecturing his daughter and also at the chemist trying to attain his medication. Sure, another actor could have easily played obsessive compulsiveness, but Cage brings his own inherent kookiness, which therefore raises the performance higher than the average.
Quote -
Man In Line - Hey buddy, ever heard of a line?
Roy - Hey have you ever been dragged on the sidewalk and beaten till you PISSED…BLOOD!
Craze Factor - 8/10
Watch - Matchstick Men Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NajOPhAf9MU
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4) Raising Arizona (1988)
Director - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Synopsis - Recidivist hold-up man H.I. McDonnough and police woman Edwina marry, only to discover they are unable to conceive a child. Desperate for a baby, the pair decide to kidnap one of the quintuplets of furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona. The McDonnoughs try to keep their crime secret, while friends, co-workers and a feral bounty hunter look to use Nathan Jr. for their own purposes.
Why? - This is possibly the goofiest Cage role on the list. His H.I. is played with soulful simplicity under the cover of extreme goofiness, who plays the role in a very monotonal fashion for the most part, bogged down by the circumstances thrust upon him, with a poeticness in his inner-monologues. In action he channels a strange southern hick charm and also cartoonish slapstick, especially in the fight scenes with the bounty hunter and John Goodman (to which he unleashes a HILARIOUS scream). It is a joy to watch, one which could work only in the Coen Bros universe and with an actor like Cage. Its a mystery why they havent collaborated further.
Quote - “I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash ya got.”
Craze Factor - 8/10
Watch - Raising Arizona Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AIfVoGUs6c
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3) Adaptation (2002)
Director - Spike Jonze
Synopsis - Frequently cynical screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has just taken on a new assignment. That is, to adapt writer Susan Orlean’s “The Orchid Thief” into a screenplay, all of it based on the life of the eccentric John Laroche, an exotic plant collector based out of Florida. While his easygoing twin brother Donald, is writing scripts with ease, Charlie finds himself on a perpetual struggle that never seems to end.
Why? - This is a wonderful transformative role for Cage who not only believably embodies the real Kaufman, but also his made-up twin brother in the film. He plays Charlie with a great nervousness, one that results in long hilarious inner-monologues and awkward yet funny lines and contrasts with Donald as super ignorant, outlandish with a childlike excitement, as if every time he says FUCK, its with childlike joy. And with these characters inside a crazy hyper-reality narrative, it is impossible to leave this movie out of the list.
Quotes - (due to multiple characters)
Charlie - To begin… To begin… How to start? I’m hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. Okay, so I need to establish the themes. Maybe a banana-nut. That’s a good muffin.
Donald - Okay, well here’s the twist. We find out that, that the killer really suffers from multiple personality disorder, right? See, he’s actually really the cop and the girl. All of them are him. Isn’t that fucked up?
Craze Factor - 9/10
Watch - Adaptation Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HtZ2M4e_AM
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2) Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)
Director - Werner Herzog
Synopsis - Terence McDonagh is a drug and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
Why? - Boy oh boy, this is an amazing showcase of Cage truly letting loose as the drug addicted bad lieutenant Terence McDonagh, a cop who after a back injury takes alot of drugs, and take alot more drugs, and gambles some more, and then some more drugs, and goes more BAT-SHITTINGLY CRAZY. Every single scene, he progresses even more into a criminally insane state, one where every fibre is of pure craze. From his facial expressions, to his walk, to the way he talks, the lines he says that are so very memorable and fucking random. His strange hallucinations of the reptilian wildlife in New Orleans, the way his GIGANTIC gun sticks out the front of his pants, with no hesistation to turn it on any man woman or child. He steals whatever drugs he can find, he has sex with unsuspecting women in public. The man is completely bonkers, whos unconventional methods freak out the average person and yet somehow…somehow manages to get the job done. It is an amazing performance from Cage, truly letting everything hang out, in the craziest sense. This isn’t really number 2, it’s as deserving of the top crazy movie as number 1.
Quote -
Terence McDonagh: Shoot him again.
Deshaun ‘Midget’ Hackett: What for?
Terence McDonagh: His soul is still dancing.
Craze Factor - Insane/10
Watch - Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAon25OkW0M&feature=fvw
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1) Vampire’s Kiss (1989)
Director - Robert Bierman
Synopsis - A publishing executive is visited and bitten by a vampire and starts exhibiting erratic behavior. He pushes his secretary to extremes as he tries to come to terms with his affliction. The vampire continues to visit and drink his blood, and as his madness deepens, it begins to look as if some of the events he’s experiencing may be hallucinations.
Why? - If it werent for Bad Lieutenant, this would be hands down his battiest role, as Peter Loew, the completely OUT OF HIS MIND publishing executive who falls deeper under the spell of a sexual vampire, a figment of his imagination. As he falls deeper into what he believes to be vampiric symptoms, his behaviour becomes more and more irratic, senseless and hilariously crazy, by way of how he continously tortures his innocent secretary to find a lost document, first verbally soon turns to violently, then to the point of raping her. His insanity is the stuff of hilariousness, but also quite creepy horror. The film is famous for Cage eating a live cochroach, and thats quite batty in itself, but the way he runs through the streets proclaiming his vampirism, the way purchases fake fangs to bite his prey, the way he walks wide-eyed through the nightclub in search for blood, his overturned couch turned coffin and the way he mutters in the street in broad daylight an idealic vision of his life. Its hard to find another actor who can create such an unhinged performance so very effectively and entertainingly.
Quote - I’m a vampire! I’m a vampire! I’m a vampire!
Craze Factor - One cannot rate the crazy/10
Watch - Vampire’s Kiss Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmNP0OlfQ7c
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Well folks, there you have it. Hopefully this list has made you realise why this man is awesome, despite his mostly poor choice in his other movies and hairpieces.
As one last treat, check out this series of commercials Cage did for a Japanese pinball company. Mixing kooky Cage and kooky Japan is pure genius. It is GOLDEN.
Watch - The Compete Pachinko Commerical Collection - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYkw-5htPw0
Enjoy!
