The best of Cage, the worst of Cage
Nicolas Cage returns to indies with his title role in the hardluck Texas tale ‘Joe.’ It’s the veteran actor’s first stab at something down home and real in a long time. A quick look at the Oscar-winning, Razzie-nominated, Coppola family man’s up and down career.
In Joe, the hardscrabble tale of a whiskey-stoked, cigarette-smoked ex-con who runs a tree-poisoning business in backcountry Texas, Nicolas Cage gives the kind of performance we haven't seen from the guy in years – it's rooted in the real. Directed by David Gordon Green, adapted from the 1991 Larry Brown novel, Joe opens Friday at the Ritz Bourse and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute – and serves to remind moviegoers that Cage is capable of more than cartoonish turns in comic book actioners, Hollywood horror and high-concept fare.
The actor turned 50 in January, and, according to IMDB, has 74 screen credits to his name. Here's a quick look back at the best and the worst the Oscar-winning, Razzie-nominated star is capable of -- a Cage match of the stellar, and the cellar, roles.
The Best
Leaving Las Vegas (1995) -- Cage wins Academy Award for his portrayal of a suicidal drunk
Moonstruck(1987) -- Cage courts Cher in marinara-sauced Brooklyn romance
Raising Arizona (1987)– Cage and Holly Hunter, in Coen Brothers kidnapping srewballer
Wild At Heart (1990) -- Cage and David Lynch, and a crazy Elvis impression
Adaptation (1991) – Cage in twin roles, in the nutty Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze uber-angster
The Worst
Season of the Witch (2011) – Cage IS Behmen von Bleibruck in Crusades catastrophe
The Wicker Man (2006) – Cage in remake of pagan sacrifice cult classic
Ghost Rider (2007) – Cage as chopper-gunnin' Satanic bounty hunter in adaptation of Marvel comic
Bangkok Dangerous (2008) – Cage as hitman hamming his way through Thai capital
Amos & Andrew (1993) – Cage and Samuel L. Jackson in race-themed comedy matchup