EDITORIAL: The Nicholas Cage Theory

EDITORIAL: The Nicholas Cage Theory

Going to see Ghost Rider: SOV this weekend? May I suggest reading this first. Is Cage a misunderstood genius, or is he simply "trolling" us all? Click for my thoughts..

Editorial Opinion
By KidDynamo0 - Feb 17, 2012 08:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Ghost Rider
Source: TheNerdpocalypse.com

Over the past few years my view of Nicolas Cage has changed dramatically. I was a casual fan of some of his work, but hated even more of it. His catalog of movies has not been the best. Cage started his career off in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and it was off to the races ever since. His rise has been steady since the early 80s. Looking over his career we can see he averages about 4 movies a year these days. For a name worthy actor this is a good and steady body of work. Often the complaint about Cage is his lack of reasonable acting. Sometimes there is screaming or whispering for no apparent reason. The word overacting is often used to describe roles in which he is involved. I don’t disagree at all with these observations. However, I think there might be something that people are missing. Allow me to propose my theory: Nicholas Cage is the greatest troll of all time. For those of you who don’t know, a troll is someone who purposefully pretends to be one way to attract controversy. They are not genuine in their behavior, but rather, attempting to gain a certain response out of the audience.

Exhibit A: Leaving Las Vegas

Nicholas Cage wins an Oscar for his performance as Ben Sanderson, a drunk who’s life is spiraling out of control until he meets a hooker with a heart of gold. Cage succeeds here not because he was lucky, but rather because he Caged it up just right. He knew what he was doing.



Exhibit B: Matchstick Men

Cage once again excels at playing a clinically diagnosed OCD sufferer. He wants you to think he is acting…he isn’t. This is what trolls do, they pretend. Matchstick Men is less of a film about scam artists and OCD but more of a week in the life of Nicholas Cage documentary.



Exhibit C: Vampire’s Kiss

It is impossible to believe that an actor could be this insane and keep getting work. The amount of good actors out there how is he still working? The yelling in the below clip is just madness.



 

Exhibit D: Face Off

There is no other movie that brings all of Nicholas Cage’s trolling to a single point than Face Off. Cage is on fire with his performance as Caster Troy. John Woo seems to sit back and just film Nicholas Cage pretending to be a villain, but he isn’t pretending!!! Have we learned nothing from his past work? I truly believe he had his face taken off just for fun. He is a super villain of this world, the Joker come to life! “Peach, I could eat a peach for hours”…WHO SAYS THIS!!! I bet it wasn’t even in the script. You can’t script crazy!!!

(Sorry about video quality here)



Does Nicholas Cage pay the directors to let him just do what he wants? Are the directors in on the joke? Is Hollywood in on the big scam? Are we a victim of the most epic troll that has ever graced the silver scene? The man even said he based his portrayal of Ghost Rider on his pet cobra snakes! Yes, cobras...the man is screwing with us. He may be the very best at it. A modern day Andy Kaufman...pure genius or just filmed insanity, you decide. Lastly, here is a video of Cage actually being the most honest we have ever seen him.



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nuck82
nuck82 - 2/17/2012, 10:07 AM
match stick men was a good movie. but nic hasnt done anything really good past the 2000s. he got all crazy and thinking hes someone special
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 2/17/2012, 10:15 AM
The only great Cage performance you mention here is Leaving Las Vegas, which you describe as "getting lucky". Err, no he just gave a great performance.. regardless of the reasons or method you think was behind it. He was also decent in Matchstick Men but yes he did overdo it a bit. Go back further, watch Raising Arizona, Wild At Heart, Adaptation, Birdy, Rumble Fish, etc etc..there are lost of performances which he is reigned in for and convincing. So yeah these days Cage seems to be just being that over the top loon, but your theory would benifit from a bit more research.
headlopper
headlopper - 2/17/2012, 10:23 AM
Hahahahahaha! I like all this Cage hating.

I'll tell you what, the guy gets work.
I like em' and hope he keeps making movies and getting under your skin!
I know he's a true comic book geek; that's all that matters to me.
SHHH
SHHH - 2/17/2012, 10:25 AM
Good Movie



SHHH
SHHH - 2/17/2012, 10:27 AM
jessepostal
jessepostal - 2/17/2012, 10:27 AM
i think it depends on what movie he is in. if his character is supposed to be over the top,he goes above and beyond over the top.If its just a normal role of him being an actual person he's mostly in the pocket, but he loves taking the over the top rolls,most likely because he's gonna make a bigger paycheck, and we all know how bad he needs the money. I thought he was good in the rock and of course leaving las vegas. I feel bad for the editors in a lot of his over the top movies haha
Irons
Irons - 2/17/2012, 10:30 AM
Do I have to pick between misunderstood genius and troll?
ManofSteel23
ManofSteel23 - 2/17/2012, 10:39 AM
I like him in alot of films and I dont like him in some,I dont see the point of digging at him lol Its up to you if you want to watch a film with him in it
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/17/2012, 10:42 AM
Haters are showing their maturity.
DarthTesla
DarthTesla - 2/17/2012, 10:54 AM
Say what you want about Cage, but at least he's interesting to watch.

Get off the bandwagon, people.

@Headlopper: Excellent point. Nic Cage is one of us!
Rodimus9
Rodimus9 - 2/17/2012, 11:10 AM
How Nic Cage chooses his role-
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
thetrojan
thetrojan - 2/17/2012, 11:15 AM
bad lieutenant is UTTER GUFF!
i dont know why they even bothered

harvey kietel in the other bad lieutenant is a movie ,with ...wait for it...ACTING!
(warning-not for minors)
But hey Nic Cage s first movie BIRDY with Matthew modine is excellent and I thought when I saw it that I was watching an awesome actor....and has a slight hero tone in that matthew modine is a guy who believes he can fly.

Its like David Bowie...brings out shit then some wonderful work then shit
why compete with yourself
OrganizedChaos
OrganizedChaos - 2/17/2012, 11:22 AM
nic cage is a good actor, i think he just chooses to go crazy in his movies and roles just to be different and at times very terrible
Greengo
Greengo - 2/17/2012, 11:26 AM
Knowing was a good movie.

He started to go downhill with that f'd up accent in Con-Air.
headlopper
headlopper - 2/17/2012, 11:37 AM
@ironman53- Good call! Thespian genius...

headlopper
headlopper - 2/17/2012, 11:47 AM
"... Johnny has HIS HAND, Johnny has HIS BRIDE!!!"

Sooo funny...
J619SD
J619SD - 2/17/2012, 1:05 PM
The Rock, 8mm, National Treasure, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, Valley Girl, Raising Arizona,Vampires Kiss, Red Rock West, Kiss of Death, Wild at Heart, Honeymoon in Vegas, Moonstruck, Bringing Out the Dead,Matchstick Men, Lord of War, Next, Knowing, and Kick Ass. Don't hate on the man. Even his bad movies are good.
CaptainAmerica
CaptainAmerica - 2/17/2012, 2:06 PM
He loves making films, he doesn't give a shit how good the movie is. People who say he doesnt know how to act are probably mentally retarded.
CaptainAmerica
CaptainAmerica - 2/17/2012, 2:07 PM
Scorpion8125 is a really good example of what I just said.
Xandera
Xandera - 2/17/2012, 3:09 PM
Some of my favorite movies have Nic Cage in them...

The guy can act...
that doesn't mean he does it well in every movie...
but the talent is definitely there.
Joker11
Joker11 - 2/17/2012, 3:47 PM
"Pissed Blood!"
eatmyhit
eatmyhit - 2/17/2012, 4:59 PM
Leaving las vegas is one of my all time top favourite films and "the rock" is one of my all time favourite action films. His a good actor or was as since "gone in 60 seconds" it just feels like he doesn't even try anymore!
DoodPool
DoodPool - 2/17/2012, 5:52 PM
I don't know where the nicholas cage hate has come from except from compilations of his crazy moments from movies (which is funny but i could make a compilation of any actor doing weird shit in their movies).

The guys not a bad actor he's just been in some shitty films, he's been in good ones though too.

Nowadays i think he banks on just being his niche character because he went broke and will exploit what people want to see of him to get his $$ back. But thats just a opinion from someone who doesn't get caught up in internet memes.
ISleepNow
ISleepNow - 2/17/2012, 6:11 PM
The best movie of his I've seen is Lord of War and he's really good in it. Cage needs a good director like Matthew Vaughn to work with him. Otherwise he's shit
OtakuPapi
OtakuPapi - 2/17/2012, 8:22 PM
Cage has done many awesome movies even recently just not so much mainstream... he sucks as Ghost Rider simply because we cant envision him as Johnny Blaze...he is too old and not ragged enough for the role its a miscast that doesnt mean he wont deliver.Honesly i feel like that put alot of energy into Spirit of Vengence and itll be worth watching not a all time fav though but i think itll be great
Shadowelfz
Shadowelfz - 2/17/2012, 9:08 PM
Worst actor in holywood. You should have put the scenes from windtalkers where he is traumatized by battle. It made me laugh out loud. The only good performance I saw from Cage was in Leaving Las Vegas. Everything else has been utter crap.

Ror I really dont know what you see in this guy or his performances but I'm not going to be like a lot of other douches and insult you or anything. I'm just really confused. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
AC1
AC1 - 2/18/2012, 4:03 PM
I still think he'd have been a great Perry White
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