It seems like every time I'm near another person as a commercial for any new Nicolas Cage film comes up, I'll hear about how he sucks and can't act, and is crazy.
I'll say this:
He doesn't suck.
He can act, and is actually one of the best actors of his generation.
He needs to be unlike the girls from high school and learn to say "no" every once in awhile.
(You're right, I'm sure he's crazy. He did name one of his children, Kal-El, which is Superman's given/alien name.)
But look at that filmography. I'll admit that he makes far too many films, many of which seem identical, at least lately. (I thought the upcoming Knowing was a sequel to Next. But then again, I didn't see Next, and have no idea what it was about.)
But take a look at the following list.
Matchstick Men
Raising Arizona
Red Rock West
Lord of War
The Weatherman
Bringing Out the Dead (my pick for not only Scorsese's most-underrated film, but also his 5th best, after Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, and Casino.)
Adaptation
The Rock (the 2nd best action film after Die Hard.)
Leaving Las Vegas
All quality films, with very unique performances.
Also, depending on your mood, you could also add Con-Air and Face-Off to this list. (I know what you're thinking, but if you see those on TNT, you know you're going to watch at least 15 minutes.)
I think that what leads to these disparaging remarks are that that 1. he makes too many films, 2. he's usually over the top. (which, on its face isn't about the quality of acting, just what you prefer in an actor/actress.), 3. he had a lot of promise in the early 90s and especially with Leaving Las Vegas, and then went out to make a bunch of dumb action films.
Wasn't John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman in just about every film of the last half decade? Or did it just seem like that? And haven't De Niro and Pacino sold their souls since they made Heat (maybe the best film of the last 20 years0? But, I think what I do like about Cage is that he does push things. Think of Adaptation. How great was he at creating 2 characters? And the scenes he played both together? They had to be big and showy. The same with Matchstick Men. Even though his character has OCD, Cage is able to play against those showy scenes with the more gentler ones involving his daughter.
Lead actors have to be showy. Because without those scene-chewing moments, they have little else to play against, when they do the quieter scenes. That's why I don't understand why some actors, (say, Hoffman) get a lot of actual respect (even though he deserves it), while Cage gets little, at least anymore. Hoffman's just as showy, but he changes it up a bit. That's because he's not a lead actor. He doesn't have the responsibility of having to be showy and quiet in the same film. He can change across films and performances. Cage, and just about every lead actor has to be confined to this dynamic during each film.
