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- Moonstruck
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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- National Treasure
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
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- Con Air
- Touchstone Pictures
Nicolas Cage is one of those actors you either love or love to hate. Known for his signature freak outs, his insane facial expressions, and his outlandish delivery of the most basic lines, Cage has a unique style that has long befuddled fans and movie critics alike. Is he the most brilliant and talented actor Hollywood has ever seen? Or is he a rare example of an actor who is so bad that legend alone has made him great?
Regardless of what you think about his larger than life acting style, it's hard to deny how unforgettable his performances are. His versatility knows no bounds, allowing him to be both a character actor and a leading man all at once. His films run the gamut from trippy horror films like Mandy to Disney action films like National Treasure. He's played a punk rock dreamboat in the cult classic Valley Girl, portrayed a man willingly losing his battle with alcoholism in Leaving Las Vegas, and beaten a plane full of convicts to a pulp in Con Air. He's even gone meta, playing himself in a movie about movies in arguably one of his best films to date.
It's easy to get lost in the rumors and opinions surrounding the enigmatic actor, but that's why it's time to vote on the roles that prove just how talented he really is.
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Premise: FBI Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) will stop at nothing to stop the terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) and avenge his son's death. He agrees to an experimental face transplant surgery to take on Castor's face, voice, and mannerisms in order to gain the trust of the terrorist's old accomplices and stop a bomb. When Castor takes on Archer's face in response, the two devolve into a game of cat and mouse that can have only one winner.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Face/Off is built on a foundation of cringe, melodrama, and absurdity, so it stands to reason that Nic Cage would thrive with the endless opportunities for chaos. In one particularly unhinged scene, Cage as Castor Troy sneers at a flight attendant that he “could eat a peach for hours" while sticking out his tongue. He impersonates a handsy priest, bursts into song with a gun pointed at his forehead, and spends most of the film in various states of wide-eyed, maniacal laughter.
Standout Cage Moment: An intense scene in prison showcases Cage's incredible ability to play a layered, complex character gone wild. Playing Agent Archer wearing Castor Troy's face, Cage was given free reign by director John Woo to go off the walls as he started a prison riot. The scene was so layered and outlandish it gave Cage a crisis of identity.
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Premise: Ben Sanderson is a suicidal screenwriter who recently lost his family and his job as result of his alcoholism. He decides to move to Las Vegas where he plans to drink himself to death. While there he enters into a relationship with a sex worker named Sera (Elizabeth Shue) who accepts him for all of his faults.
How Unhinged is Cage: Caught in a seemingly endless drunken stupor, Cage whistles and dances his way down liquor aisles, flips over tables in casinos, and effectively causes as much chaos as possible in a short period of time. He switches back and forth from broken and beat down to out of control crazy, all of which is an alarming depiction of Ben’s slide towards self-destruction.
Standout Cage Moment: In one heartbreaking scene towards the beginning of the film, Ben attempts to cash a check the morning after a bender. Violent hand tremors keep him from being able to sign his name and he begs the teller to let him cash the check without a signature, blaming a brain tumor. His shame is as palpable as his desperation, and you feel every torturous moment of the interaction. Cage’s depiction of Ben’s end-stage alcoholism and all of the physical symptoms and emotional wreckage that come with it won him an Academy Award.
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Premise: Ex-convict H.I. “Hi” McDonnough is an ex-con. His wife Edwina (Holly Hunter) is an ex-cop. When they are unable to start their own family, they decide to kidnap one of the quintuplets of a local furniture tycoon named Nathan Arizona. The couple try to keep their crime a secret while dealing with Hi’s prophetic dreams, a crazy bounty hunter, and a complicated network of criminal friends seeking their own fortunes.
How Unhinged Is Cage: The entire premise of Raising Arizona is an exercise in unhinged hilarity, which is probably why Nic Cage shines so brilliantly throughout. From stealing diapers with panty hose on his head to blowing up a motorcycle gunman with a hand grenade, Cage plays Hi with charisma, heart, and an exuberant, cartoonish energy that is delightful to watch.
Standout Cage Moment: In the final moments of the film, Nic Cage delivers a heartfelt voiceover narration of one of his prophetic dreams. In it, he imagines the baby the couple kidnapped enjoying life as a football star with his family and wonders about his future with Ed. It is beautifully written and masterfully read, ending the comic crime thriller on a poignant note.
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Premise: Former US Ranger and paroled ex-con Cameron Poe is trapped on a prisoner-transport plane when it is hijacked by the passengers. Forces on the ground want to shoot the plane down, but Cameron works behind the scenes keeping his identity a secret to help bring the hijackers to justice.
How Unhinged is Cage: Con Air is one long action sequence peppered with bizarre twists, strange dialogue, and outlandish special effects. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which is why its easy to forgive the truly ridiculous southern accent Cage adopts and earnestly delivered lines like, “I said, put the bunny back in the box" or the repeated phrase, “What do you think I'm gon' do? I'm gon' save the day.”
Standout Cage Moment: During an ambush at the airfield, a chain attached to the plane by Cameron Pope ends up hooked to a 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible. Silly and ridiculous though it may be to witness something like this, when Cameron sets eyes on the vintage car flying through the air behind the plane, he says simply, “On any other day that might be considered strange.” Cage's delivery is quiet and calm, the perfect balance to something so absurd it defies explanation.
Terrific Nic?Premise: Benjamin Franklin Gates is a cryptologist, a historian, and the youngest member of a family of treasure hunters. While searching for legendary treasure left by the Templar Knights, he discovers the key lies on the back of the Declaration of Independence. With the help of hacker Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and reluctant archivist Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), Ben races to find the treasure before a group of mercenaries and reestablish his family's good name.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Maybe because it’s a PG-rated Disney movie, or maybe because the movie’s premise is outlandish enough on its own, but Cage keeps it relatively reigned in with his performance.
Standout Cage Moment: Few actors can pull off the cool, unhurried confidence Nic Cage displays in the scenes where Ben actively steals the Declaration of Independence. His placid calm contrasts sharply with Riley’s outright panic, making the viewer think that such a thing would not only be possible, but relatively easy to do.
Terrific Nic?Premise: Stanley Goodspeed is a chemical warfare expert for the FBI sent on a mission to take back Alcatraz Island from a group of rogue marines seeking compensation for the families of their fallen soldiers. Led by General Hummell (Ed Harris), the marines threaten to unleash a nerve gas attack on San Francisco if their demands aren't met. With the help of a former British intelligence officer (Sean Connery), Stanley must race against the clock to disarm the bombs and save millions of lives.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Stanley Goodspeed starts out the film as a mild mannered nerd, but with Cage as his pilot he ends up an action hero that slings lines like, “I love pressure, I eat it for breakfast" without a trace of irony. He yells, he contorts his face into truly bizarre expressions only Nic Cage could muster up, and he behaves like a lunatic. But it's super fun to watch.
Standout Cage Moment: One of Nic Cage's talents as an actor is that he can turn the clunkiest, cheesiest line into action movie magic. In the final showdown between Stanley and a marine named Captain Darrow (Tony Todd), Stanley engages the marine hell bent on killing him with a quip about music. When Stanley asks him if he likes Elton John, which Captain Darrow decidedly does not, Stanley replies with, “I only bring it up because it's you. You're the rocket man." Then he launches a nerve gas-free rocket into the unfortunate marine's chest. It's ridiculous, and it's perfect.
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Premise: It’s love at first sight when Randy, a punk from Hollywood, meets Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman), a wealthy, sweet, and slightly shallow girl from the Valley. The pair face a series of obstacles, including the fact that Julie’s friends and family hate Randy and continually urge her to get back together with her ex-boyfriend.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Valley Girl was Cage's first feature-length film, so his performance isn't as crazy or meme-ified as modern audiences have come to expect. However, his character exhibits some pretty unhinged behavior. He also doesn't take Julie's later rejection well and proceeds to stalk her, showing up on her dates in costumes and camping out in her front yard.
Standout Cage Moment: A montage of Randy and Julie on dates showcase Nic Cage at his sweetest. In these scenes he's just a kid falling in love with a girl, and for a moment you can forget it's the legendary Nic Cage on screen.
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Premise: Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini (Cher) reluctantly accepts the proposal of her boyfriend Johnny Cammareri (Vincent Gardenia) and is tasked with inviting his estranged brother Ronny to the wedding. Despite Ronny’s hatred for his brother and his disdain for the hand that life dealt him, Loretta finds herself falling in love with him instead.
How Unhinged Is Cage: When we first meet Ronny in his bakery, he gives a melodramatic speech about how his brother Johnny stole his life, ending with a demand for his employee to get him “the big knife” so he can make Loretta watch him kill himself with it. He’s a passionate, fiery, and romantic character who yells, flips tables, and delivers wild-eyed, breathy, dramatic speeches about art, love, and life. The entire performance is a study in unhinged chaos that fits perfectly with Nic Cage’s eccentric demeanor.
Standout Cage Moment: Ronny’s verbal declaration of love to Loretta is ‘80s rom-com gold, and one that fans adore years after the film's initial release. Exquisitely delivered and with a charmingly exaggerated New York accent, Cage infuses vulnerability and passion into Ronny’s speech. It doesn’t matter if the lines are cheesy or over dramatic on their own, an earnest Cage delivers them with such authenticity that you can’t imagine it being told “I love you” in any other way.
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Premise: To save himself from creative and financial ruin, famous actor Nick Cage agrees to attend the birthday party of a superfan named Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). When he is recruited by the CIA to stop a dangerous arms dealer, who they suspect might be Javi, Nick must channel his favorite action hero characters to bring the bad guys to justice and prove he isn't a Hollywood has-been.
How Unhinged is Cage: Throughout the film, Nick Cage is tormented by "Nicky," his younger, more successful self. In one bizarre and brilliantly unhinged scene, Nick Cage and Nicky exchange a passionate kiss which ends with Nicky exclaiming, “You tell ‘em Nick Cage smooches good!” That’s all you need to know, really.
Standout Cage Moment: Nicolas Cage is known for being a fan of obscure and heavy cinematic films, and this version of himself is no different. However, when he has the opportunity to watch Paddington 2, once with Javi and once with his daughter in the film's final scene, his enjoyment of the movie and the tears he cries show a softer, toned down, and empathetic side to his character.
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Premise: Roy is a successful con-artist living with depression, agoraphobia, and obsessive compulsive disorder. He and his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) are on the verge of executing one of their biggest cons when Frank's teenage daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) arrives out of the blue. Although her arrival seems to diminish some of Roy's more troublesome mental health symptoms, her desire to work on a con with him and Frank causes Roy to question his career choices.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Cage portrays Roy frantically trying to get a refill of his medicine at a pharmacy in a chaotic scene. Distressed, frustrated, and struggling through verbal and facial tics, he lashes out at people in line and screams at the pharmacists only to find out the prescription he was given is a menopause supplement. The entire episode is a solid 9 on the Unhinged Nic Cage Scale.
Standout Cage Moment: Nic Cage showcases his range as an actor during Roy's first appointment with a psychiatrist. Agitated and exhibiting ongoing facial tics, Roy eventually tells the doctor that his most recent good day was spent watching the individual fibers of his carpet, worrying about throwing up on them, and thinking he should end his life. His energy is frantic, his movements are jerky, and though he tells his story in an angry tone, the desperation in his face is crystal clear.
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Premise: Yuri Orlov and his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) are international arms dealers who rise to prominence in the ‘80s and ’90s. The movie follows Yuri's struggle with the morality of his job, his talent for it, and his failed attempts to reign in his wild and ethically challenged younger brother, all while being pursued by the self-righteous Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke).
How Unhinged Is Cage: Signature Nic Cage freakouts are abundant in Lord of War. One particularly unhinged scene shows Yuri standing in the back of a plane cheering on a village as they take grenades, bullets, and crates of guns out of the cargo hold. Dancing in the corner, he repeatedly yells, “Bullets! Guns! Grenades! Hooray!" It's really a catchy tune if you ignore all the dangerous weapons being released into the hands of citizens.
Standout Cage Moment: When Yuri is finally captured at the end of the movie, he delivers a captivating speech informing Agent Valentine that he will be released. With a sad, resigned sort of calm that is both heartbreaking and chilling to watch, Yuri explains in detail why he will not be sent to prison or punished for his despicable crimes, describing himself as a necessary evil.
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Premise: Following his release from prison, Sailor Ripley and his girlfriend Lula Fortune (Laura Dern) break parole and head to New Orleans to start their lives together. Unbeknownst to them, Lula’s mother (Diane Ladd) has hired a hitman and a private detective to follow them, murder Sailor, and return Lula to her.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Wild at Heart is best described as a fever dream, with Nic Cage’s unhinged behavior and character acting as the glue holding it all together. But exactly how unhinged does he get? Contained violent outbursts, constant Elvis Presley voice impersonations, and random bouts of screaming set the tone for an unhinged character living on the edge. Sailor is just as likely to bring a punk rock show to a halt so he can serenade Lula with Elvis karaoke while wearing his signature snakeskin jacket, a “symbol of his individuality and his belief in personal freedom.”
Standout Cage Moment: Cage's acting style fully embraces the “anything goes” vibe of Sailor and Lula's road trip throughout the movie. In one scene, Sailor pulls the car over, finds a rock station, and creates an impromptu mosh pit with Lula on the side of the road. It is a high-energy, chaotic, hilarious, and bizarre moment of joy between the two characters.
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Premise: Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is an insecure and anxious LA screenwriter struggling to write a movie adaptation of Susan Orlean's (Meryl Streep) book The Orchid Thief. While he grapples with writer's block, Charlie's twin brother Donald (Nicolas Cage) is seeing major success with his own spec script. As Charlie attempts to turn Orlean's novel into a usable screenplay, secret motivations from the author come to light that put the twin's lives in danger.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Nic Cage plays brothers with extraordinarily different personalities and approaches to life in Adaptation, which naturally leads to some absurd interactions. Portraying Charlie and Donald and their strained relationship proved to be emotionally taxing for the actor, and the back and forth he had to do during filming caused Cage some serious mental frustration.
Standout Cage Moment: Charlie takes famous screenwriter Robert McKee (Brian Cox) out for a drink after one of his seminars in the hopes of obtaining some perspective with his failing script. This move is out of character for shy and timid Charlie, and Cage portrays him with an eagerness and gentle desperation the interaction believably calls for. The advice he receives helps him move forward and showcases the character's talent and willingness to adapt his art to succeed.
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Premise: Rob is a former chef living a solitary life in the Oregon wilderness with his truffle hunting pet pig. When Pig is stolen, a devastated Rob leaves his secluded home to hunt down the people that took her.
How Unhinged is Cage: With the exception of a few moments of bloodshed and violence, Cage portrays Rob as a quiet, introverted, and soft-spoken man. Rob isn't a man hellbent on revenge, and he doesn't enjoy chaos or violence. Instead, he uses his superb powers of observation to deliver painful truths to people, a method that is much more effective at hurting them than a punch to the face.
Standout Cage Moment: Once a world-renowned chef, Rob uses the power of food and memory to emotionally manipulate a man he's known for years into telling him the truth about his pig's fate. Viewers get to watch him prepare a beautiful meal with care and intention, and although he says very little and is covered in blood the entire time, it is a beautifully acted and emotionally stirring scene.
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Premise: Red and his girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) live a peaceful life in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. When Mandy is kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by a sadistic cult leader, Red embarks on a bloody and violent path of revenge.
How Unhinged Is Cage: On a scale of 1 to 10, Nic Cage is an 11. To be fair, so is the movie. It's a blood soaked fever dream, complete with cannibalistic bikers, LSD trips, and a surreal level of gore and satanic imagery. But no one is better than Nic Cage to deliver an insane performance suitable for such a film, complete with his signature crazy gestures and facial expressions, all while covered head-to-toe in blood.
Standout Cage Moment: One scene finds a bloody and exhausted Red in a bathroom chugging a bottle of vodka. He pours the bottle over his wounds and releases an agonizing scream. The scream can be viewed as Nic Cage just being wacky Nic Cage, but in reality it's a scream of catharsis and emotional processing that matches the general aggression of the film.
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Premise: New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) is struggling with the stress and emotional strain of his job after failing to resuscitate a homeless teenager. Over the course of several nights, Frank and his co-workers are called out to various jobs which push Frank into a deeper state of stress and cause him to see hallucinations of the patients he couldn't save.
How Unhinged Is Cage: In a surge of frantic, aggressive energy, Frank drives the ambulance through the city sporting wide, crazy eyes and a malevolent grin that are terrifying to behold. His physical movements and deranged facial expressions show a man on the brink of insanity, a brilliant portrayal of PTSD and mania.
Standout Cage Moment: Early in the film Frank is desperate to avoid responding to a fire, terrified at the prospect of what they'd find when they arrived. His relief when they are called to assist a regular drunk named Mr. O is palpable and showcases Cage's superb emotional range as an actor.
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Premise: When teenager Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider, he obtains spider-like powers and uncovers a network of people with similar powers across parallel universes. Together, Miles and the Spider-People must work to take down a madman threatening all of their universes named Kingpin.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Spider-Man Noir is a brooding vigilante patrolling the streets of New York City during the Great Depression, which suits Nic Cage’s deep, growly voice and general “otherness.” He is a contrasting study in violence and aggression when compared to Miles's good-hearted innocence, although he is self-aware enough to regret the lethal nature of his actions.
Standout Cage Moment: Cage's delivery of Spider-Man Noir’s quippy, gangster-era one-liners are superb, providing humor and silliness while illustrating the character’s darker aspects. In an introductory scene, Spider-Man Noir drops into a basement where the other Spider-People have gathered in a burst of wind saying, ““Wherever I go the wind follows, and the wind smells like rain.”
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Premise: Peggy Sue Bodell (Kathleen Turner) is an unhappy woman full of regret who recently separated from her husband Charlie (Nicolas Cage). When she faints at her 25-year high school reunion and wakes up in the year 1960, Peggy Sue seizes the opportunity to relive her life and do things differently.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Overly dramatic gestures and facial expressions combined with a high-pitched, nasally voice make him seem like a parody of a cartoon. Not to mention the chaotic marriage proposal where he manhandles Peggy Sue into listening to him, grinning all the while, or the brief attempted murder by suffocation when he finds out his girlfriend went for a drive with another guy - it's a lot to take in.
Standout Cage Moment: The scene where he croons on stage alongside Jim Carrey is pretty spectacular. His facial expressions are mildly ridiculous in Cage's exaggerated way, but his voice sounds lovely and his smile is infectious. In that moment it’s easy to see why Peggy Sue falls in love with him twice.
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Premise: Terence is a New Orleans police sergeant battling a painkiller addiction and gambling debts while attempting to solve the murders of five Senegalese immigrants.
How Unhinged Is Cage: Terence McDonagh is a terrible person and a corrupt cop who's committed a laundry list of crimes. Cage lets his unhinged flag fly to appropriately convey not only Terence's drug-and-debt-induced behavior, but his horrendous personality and selfish motivations.
Standout Cage Moment: In his best scene, Terence threatens an old lady and her nurse into giving him the location of a witness. Barely able to stand and with his face contorted in pain and rage, he removes the old lady's oxygen, pulls a gun on the nurse, and calls them both a litany of foul names. It's unbearable to watch and yet Cage is so magnetic you can't look away.
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