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Post by stephen on Apr 23, 2022 0:57:02 GMT
Otherwise known as The Movie That Will Slowly But Steadily Gain Its Budget Back Because Stephen Will Buy A Ticket Every Day For It. Because this movie was everything I ever wanted it to be. Uproaringly funny and yet not enough to undercut the emotional vulnerability in the story, this movie was miraculous and proves that Nicolas Cage is well and truly back (not that he ever went anywhere). Pedro Pascal needs to be in every Cage film going forward, too, because their chemistry is beyond electric; you could power a small country off of it. Also, any movie that casts Sharon Horgan in a major supporting role is already starting off on a high note for me.
My only complaint? I wish that David Lynch or Werner Herzog had been able to play the director at the start (though David Gordon Green did a fair enough job).
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Post by finniussnrub on Apr 23, 2022 1:14:00 GMT
If only the film was entirely of Cage and Pascal hanging out, as all of that was pure gold. The action scenes were terrible and the action plot was aggressively generic (the point I think, but then be funnier in those scenes then). The whole daughter aspect was aggressively cliched (again maybe the point, but again be funnier in that aspect then), felt far more emotion in the Pascal and Cage standoff, than anything between Cage and his daughter.
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Post by countjohn on Apr 24, 2022 19:35:32 GMT
The positives here are that it’s the funniest movie in years and Cage is acting his ass off and giving 100%. He’s putting in as much effort here as in Adaptation or Bad Lieutenant even if the material isn’t as good. Really hope Lionsgate gives him a campaign, this would be a truly “inspired” nod. Not expecting it to be in play for anything else big although it could very easily slip into my top ten at the end of the year.
Still, I do have to think this could have been better without all the earnest attempts at “tug at the heartstrings” moments and just playing it as a full on parody of Hollywood and actor redemption arcs both in fiction and real life publicity. Feels like that might have been due to the influence of Cage as producer, wanting the movie to make him look good in the end and not just take the piss out of him.
Anyway, still an 8/10.
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 27, 2022 20:34:24 GMT
Entertaining movie, with a hilarious Cage.... especially in his looks and reactions. He does a mean Miles Davis that had me choking laughing. Pedro Pascal volleys well, his "turn and laugh" bit got me good. Not sure the script totally works.... especially when it begins to meta question its own slack, and we have to bear out the painfully basic CIA and druglord subplots. As well as some of the po-faced Cage judging, like in that family therapy session (not the first act's literal therapy which cleverly recalls Vampire's Kiss)...... and the Paddington have-a-heart hoo. What's so wrong about Dr Caligari? Me, for the ending I'd have him direct, star, and do the catering ("I learned this basting technique during my Pig prep") for a remake of Caligari ! Instead the movie kinda drags Cage over Caligari's last line, "At last I understand his delusion. Now I know how to cure him."  I read the original script that had appearances by Tarantino and celeb friends like Jim Carrey... that script had a little more edge, now it seems a little studio-smoothed, and doesn't help the slightly Buzzfeed article understanding of Cage. The thesis that he needs a hit backfires bc the movie and its very lazy directing feels more like one of his VOD movies. Not that some of them aren't enjoyable, like this is. Or underrated, like Between Worlds which has better satiric swipes than this. Worst thing I can say is the movie goes against the spirit of Cage and it's not his funniest recent perf, that's Army of One. But all of that is also me being a fun sucker. Cage and Pedro's Luca-esque buddying is sweet and I like all of their moments, by the pool, by the cliff, switching shoes. My fav thing about the movie is the "kids playing make-believe games" of their friendship. It has a good beginning, and a warmly played ending scene about a belt buckle. I've also had a big laugh hearing about the deleted scenes.... during the LSD sequence, they cut a scene of Cage hiding in a church where Jesus looks down and goes "pssst I loved you in Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans."  That's a wink to Army of One, too. They cut a German expressionism sequence (again, anti-Caligari !) and a good breather WiFi scene with Pascal after his arrival. So I'll be popping on the Extended Version the second it drops. |
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Post by Viced on Apr 28, 2022 20:36:10 GMT
It's mostly fun... but at a certain point the plot just gets too preposterous... and even worse, the character actually being Nicolas Cage becomes almost inconsequential. There is probably a 30 minute stretch where if someone stumbled into the theater by mistake, they wouldn't even know that Cage was playing himself if not for a one-liner here or there. The idea of Cage playing himself and needing a hit and/or considering retirement had so much potential... no clue why they would bog it down with such generic bullshit. Though the amazing cut to Demi Moore almost made it all worth it. But I still had a pretty good time. The Donnie Brasco text was definitely my biggest laugh. And obviously Cage is a blast... and Pascal was the perfect actor to pair up with him here. not sure why the movie ended with the most depressing song ever written though...  |
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Post by countjohn on Apr 28, 2022 22:12:03 GMT
It's mostly fun... but at a certain point the plot just gets too preposterous... and even worse, the character actually being Nicolas Cage becomes almost inconsequential. There is probably a 30 minute stretch where if someone stumbled into the theater by mistake, they wouldn't even know that Cage was playing himself if not for a one-liner here or there. The idea of Cage playing himself and needing a hit and/or considering retirement had so much potential... no clue why they would bog it down with such generic bullshit. Though the amazing cut to Demi Moore almost made it all worth it. I think the idea was that Cage's life turns into one of his crappy straight to VOD action movies as a meta joke, like Adaptation turning into a cliched Hollywood thriller at the end, but I agree they played it a bit too straight for that element to entirely land. I thought watching it that it would have been good if it had switched to the movie Cage makes about it at a certain point, like you're still seeing Demi Moore as if wife at the end. Wouldn't surprise me if in earlier drafts there was more weird stuff like that but it got smoothed out in later drafts. It's not Adaptation but I still found it extremely funny and entertaining though so I was satisfied. |
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Post by Ryan_MYeah on Apr 29, 2022 3:13:53 GMT
It’s really fun, and really funny. I think the tone and the execution of the comedy is wobbly, but it charges on the strength of Cage and ESPECIALLY Pedro Pascal. Also, I want to give a shout out to one joke in particular. “So you’re gonna be the gay uncle in the next Duplass brothers movie?” I laughed my ass off at that joke |
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Apr 29, 2022 13:26:00 GMT
Extremely enjoyable and entertaining. I didn’t even mind the last act as much as most.
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Apr 29, 2022 13:26:25 GMT
It’s really fun, and really funny. I think the tone and the execution of the comedy is wobbly, but it charges on the strength of Cage and ESPECIALLY Pedro Pascal. Also, I want to give a shout out to one joke in particular. “So you’re gonna be the gay uncle in the next Duplass brothers movie?” I laughed my ass off at that joke That was probably my favorite joke also. |
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 29, 2022 19:27:06 GMT
Another hysterical deleted scene. Let them have fun, Lionsgate!
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Post by countjohn on Apr 30, 2022 0:28:26 GMT
This could have such a good extended cut like Anchorman and some of those other comedies where it puts all the non sequitur jokes that had nothing to do with anything back in.
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Post by cheesecake on May 1, 2022 17:02:02 GMT
This cured my depression (for one day).  |
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Post by JangoB on Jun 20, 2022 8:20:04 GMT
Look, the bundle of uniqueness that is Nicolas Cage certainly deserves a wilder, more outlandish and more creative movie concentrated around him but for what it is it's perfectly fine. Even when the plot gets too plotty and the on-screen happenings grow too generic, there's always a shining beacon of light in the center of it all - a beacon named Nicolas Cage who gives a truly hilarious, magnificent performance. For all the film's shortcomings it sure has one heck of an ace up its sleeve and thankfully that ace is essentially in every shot.
Another huge plus is the chemistry between Cage and Pedro Pascal. Movie chemistry is such a strange phenomenon - it's impossible to define or describe in coherent, strict terms. But you know it when you see it, and I sure saw plenty of it between those two guys. Can we get a pure hangout movie for them? Without the kidnappings and the spying? Because that would be awesome.
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That's a wink to Army of One, too. They cut a German expressionism sequence (again, anti-Caligari !) and a good breather WiFi scene with Pascal after his arrival. So I'll be popping on the Extended Version the second it drops. 
