Nicolas Cage has been a Hollywood staple for more than 30 years.
Maybe it’s because he’s related to the legendary Coppola family (he is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola), or maybe he stands out on his own because of all of the ridiculously bad movies he’s starred in.
In his latest film, “Season of the Witch,” Cage stars as the 14th-century crusader Behman, trying to save his homeland from the black plague and the evil witch who they have deemed is the culprit.
It is up to Behman and fellow crusader Felson (Ron Perlman) to transport the witch to a monastery so the monks can lift her curse from their homeland. Once at the abbey, they make a horrific discovery that jeopardizes their mission, putting them in grave danger.
It’s rarely hard to determine whether or not a Nic Cage movie will be bad or not — they usually are.
Like in many of his recent movie roles, Cage plays a hunky, mysterious leading man coming to save the village. But what is meant to be taken seriously, Cage inadvertently makes funny.
The movie material he chooses doesn’t help his image either.
Within the past decade, Cage has starred in a myriad of films so bad they’re legendary.
One of Cage’s all time worst films was the remake of the British film “The Wicker Man,” which earned itself five Razzie award nominations, including Worst Actor. A Razzie award is given to actors and films who embody the “worst” in entertainment.
Consequently, Cage, though talented at times, has become synonymous with laughably bad movies.
As a relative to directors Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”) and Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”), Cage has a high standard to live up to.
He shined early on in Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married.” In other quieter gems like “Matchstick Men,” Cage showed he has acting chops in his role as a complex con man, but since then, he rarely has chosen roles that suit him so well.
At 32, he won the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in “Leaving Las Vegas,” becoming the fifth-youngest person ever to win the award.
Still, Cage’s talents have been overshadowed in movies such as “Wicker Man” and “Ghost Rider,” and his recent movie releases such as “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and now “Season of the Witch” have done little to help him.
Movie critic Roger Ebert continues to defend Cage’s acting choices, calling him daring and fearless for his roles, and says his commitment to the character makes him one of the greatest living male movie stars.
Other critics have a less romanticized view of Cage’s movie choices, but they don’t doubt that he has talent.
The criticism hasn’t deterred Cage though from making so many over-the-top bad movie choices. Right now, a “Ghost Rider” sequel is in the works and, reportedly, a third “National Treasure” sequel as well.
The tagline for “Season of the Witch” is “Not all souls can be saved.” Hopefully Nicolas Cage can be saved after this film.
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Nicolas Cage: seriously funny
Daily Emerald
January 4, 2011
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