We Love Nic Cage

Whenever I ask people who their least favorite actor is, there's always, without fail, a roar. "NIC CAGE!" At least three out of ten people: "NIC CAGE!!" What! Seriously!?  

Maybe it's just a trend, like how everyone randomly loves Betty White all of the sudden. Or how McDonalds is so popular despite making greasy, unhealthy trash. Remeber when people used to wear biker shorts? Water socks?! Well, if you hate Nic Cage with a raging passion, you're basically wearing biker shorts and water socks at the same time. You think Betty White is the star of 2010. You'll regret it all someday when you're in a conversation with a film buff and they make you look like the popularist Betty White fan you once were.

Cage is a genuinely weird dude, like many great actors and artists. He does weird things with his hair, marries the same women Michael Jackson married, chooses strange roles, creates batshit characters, etc. He's really not too different from Johnny Depp in some ways. The big difference, of course, is that Depp is cutesy and Cage is not. Oh, and Depp is much prettier. But Cage's winks are grittier (and his muscles bigger!).

We've put together what we believe to be a very concinving list of great films/performances involving cage, including his two recent classics, Kick-Ass and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Unlike most actor's lists of wortwhile films and performances, Cage's list is very long and diverse.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Minor role, sure, but a nice introduction to the man.

Valley Girl - Weird 80s film led by a weird dude who remains weird to this day. We think that, because he's had quite a few "normal" performances here and there (usually in paycheck films), the less familiar are surprised when Cage gets his batshit on. Truth is, the dude has always been odd.

Rumble Fish - Super underrated movie that sees Cage working with his uncle Francis. Cage's performance isn't amazing, but it's a strong film that helped introduce Cage to many of the directors he would eventually go on to work with.

Birdy - Not bad. Little known, but not bad.  Another worthwhile film to add to Cage's long list of achievements. Did we mention that Birdy won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes?

Raising Arizona - A Coen Brothers classic. Cage is in all-out kooky mode here, giving a performance that no one else could give. I'm sure they considered John Cusack or whoever, but if you compare, say, Valley Girl to Tape Heads or Gross Point Blank (Cusack's two attempts at kooky), it's pretty obvious who King Batship of his generation is.

Wild at Heart - Very strange David Lynch film that further displays Cage's diversity. You think you're better than Cage, right? You love Betty White but hate Nic Cage? I wonder what David Lynch would think about that.

It Could Happen to You - Not a major accomplishment, but a perfectly agreeable rom-com that, once again, shows Cage's diversity. I quite like this film and find Cage's rom-com performance to be much better than most others.

Trapped in Paradise - Super underrated seasonal comedy that kind of reminds of the Three Stooges, with Cage as the (sorta) Straight Man. This is a strange film for someone to showcase their leading man capabilities, but here's where it happened for Cage. Around this time he started getting all kind of calls from big producers and directors. He displayed the powerhouse frontman capabilities that have seemed to doom him with so many ever since.

Leaving Las Vegas - Nic Cage won an Oscar?! No way!! Yep. And damn did he deserve it. This is an incredibly hard to watch performance, due to how authentic Cage is as the alcoholic with a death wish. Very nuanced and memorable.

The Rock - I almost put Con Air on this list, too, because, for what it is, I think it's perfectly enjoyable (Face/Off, on the other hand, is garbage). But, as far as the action star in the fast car goes, this is Cage's masterpiece. And, as far as big, loud, expensive movies in the 90s went, The Rock was one of the best.

Bringing Out the Dead - Many seemed confused when Martin Scorcese and Paul Schrader chose Nic Cage for their latest Night Workers film. He knocked the opportunity out of the park, creating his own Travis Bickle for a new generation. If only people liked well-staged dramatic nightmares as much as they did in the Taxi Driver days.

The Family Man - A Nic Cage film you can watch with your mom that he's actually GREAT in? Yep, that sort of film does exist. You can tell that Cage isn't giving it his all here, but, even when somewhat phoned in, Cage stands out as one of the more unique frontmen in the history of film.

Adaptation - Not just the best performance of Cage's career and one of the best performances of the Naughts, but, in our opinion, one of the best performances of all-time. Cage  plays two very different brothers here to great dramatic and comedic results. If you've seen this film and still knock Cage, then either A: you know shit about film and acting, or B: you know shit about acting and film. That he can play roles like this so well while also nailing The Rock, Bringing Out the Dead, Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona and Wild at Heart makes him one of the best of his generation, even if he has been in some awful films. Should've been his second Oscar-winning performance.

Matchstick Men - Maybe his third best performance ever. In this little-seen Ridley Scott thriller/comedy/heist film, Cage plays and OCD-plagued con artist who gets conned by heartache and longing. Cage makes this deep, complex performance look easy. An underrated classic full of great acting moments.

The Weather Man -  Amazing dramatic dark comedy that once again shows new range for Cage. Fun, funny, relateable, dark. etc.

Grindhouse - Cage only makes a cameo in this blast of a film, but it goes to show, once again, that Cage is loved by the greatest directors. Both Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have said that they hope/plan to work with Nic someday. Do you, Betty White Fan, know better than QT and RobRo? No. You don't.

Knowing - Another bad dream film. Alex Proyas (director of classics The Crow and Dark City) and Cage work well together in a film that is already establishing itself as a cult favorite (despite doing quite well at the box office). Some of the production gets cheesy, but the storytelling, pacing and performances all work very well and make for a unique big dollar thriller.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Werner Herzog cast Nic Cage when he had Michael Shannon in his back pocket? You bet. Here's the thing the haters don't seem to understand: even the most high-art-minded of the art house auteurs love Cage, and know that there are certain characters that no one can pull off in the way that he can. Port of Call might be the definition of that kind of role. Cage is SO weird here that you never know how seriously you're supposed to take him ... and that is exactly why the film works so well. Nothing like it.

Kick-Ass - Kind of a strange performance, even for Cage. He shifts from relateable dad to action hero to maniacal madman from scene to scene, also offering some major laughs along the way. Great film that seemed very unlikely on paper. Cage stands out.

So, in review, here's a list of the great filmmakers who have gone to Cage at one time or another when in need of a strong frontman: Spike Jonze; David Lynch; Werner Herzog; Alex Proyas; Ridley Scott; Martin Scorcese; Francis Copolla; Oliver Stone, Gore Verbinski; Matt Vaughan; John Woo, Brett Ratner; Brian De Palma; Mike Figgis; Norman Jewison; Amy Heckeling, Michael Bay and many others. Hard to find anyone working today who has worked with such a diverse list of classic/successful directors.

Also, the above list is just a list of our favorite Cage films. He has MANY other popular and successful films not mentioned aboved. Some - like the National Treasure films, Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds, etc. - are even major blockbusters. Did we mention that Cage is only 46 years old? If he follows the path of so many great leading men before him, we can expect the most serious - and likely best - performances of his career over the next 15 or so years.

So, is Nic Cage still your least favorite actor? If so, this website might not be for you. We're not saying he's Daniel Day-Lewis or Robert DeNiro or even Tom Hanks, but he is, for sure, a great actor capable of many things. And surely one of the most diverse and unique leading men we can think of.

Written by G. William Locke