While Nicolas Cage has become something of a mythical living meme machine, it's easy to forget the dude has some legitimate gems under his belt buried in his ever growing filmography. These aren't the "so bad, they're good" list of the most unhinged Nicolas Cage experiences (although it's hard to post a list of Nic Cage films and not even mention Vampire's Kiss or Face-Off); but instead these are The Best Nic Cage Films of All Time. Seriously.
Honorable Mention: Leaving Las Vegas
I'm pretty stunned to see how widely acclaimed this film was, considering how sexually explicit and deranged it is. And even though it's aged pretty poorly, it feels wrong to have a top 10 list without Cage's only Oscar winning performance - portraying a suicidal alcoholic screenwriter who gets fucked to death by a prostitute (played by Elisabeth Shue). Toss in the super sleazy, late night Cinemax direction of Mike Figgis, who also provides the ultra dated soundtrack which sounds like a bad Sting impersonator doing a lounge act and you've got a hella trashy viewing experience. But Cage does provide an incredible performance at the center of the film, which helps to buoy the proceedings as does Elisabeth Shue, who honestly probably got robbed of her own Oscar here. Their performances are what makes the movie.
#10. Pig
At first I had Peggy Sue Got Married in the 10 slot but that movie mostly succeeds in spite of Cage and his over the top Pee Wee Herman portrayal of his high school self. 2021's Pig is a powerhouse platform for Cage to channel the emotional levity required for the story to succeed and he absolutely carries that weight like Jim fucking Brown. It's been a while since we've seen Cage used as the centerpiece of a an emotionally gripping drama like this but despite his somewhat questionable choices as of late, Pig is proof that Nicolas Cage is still an actor of the highest caliber (even though the films he chooses to work on may not always be).
#9. Mom and Dad
Crank screenwriter Brian Taylor brings his unhinged brand of chaos to the comedy-horror sub genre in this criminally underrated black comedy about an inexplicable outbreak of parents gone hysterical trying to murder their own children. Taylor doesn't waste time on a high concept origin, but instead focuses on the carnage at hand and delivers it at an incredibly fun, break neck pace. The rampage is hilariously intense and Cage's cornball father figure, turned homicidal maniac is the perfect center piece.
#8. Matchstick Men
Perhaps one of Cage's most nuanced and straight forward roles, Matchstick Men is a brilliantly layered heist film wrapped in a character study of a father coping with obsessive compulsive disorder while trying to provide for his daughter. His performance here, arguably the best of his career, outshines the heist itself and transforms this into a masterclass in character development. A prime example of a good movie made great by an incredible performance.
#7. Dream Scenario
With his English language feature debut, writer/director Kristoffer Borgli has exploded onto the scene with one of the most original concepts we've seen in some time. And who better to co-sign this philosophical exploration of the effects of fame and cancel culture than the enigmatic Nicolas Cage in the leading role. Cage has played a dorky middle aged dad, desperate for validation in the past but never in such a fascinating context. Much like dreams themselves, the threads pulled here aren't really designed to lead you on a point A to B narrative journey but rather a series of meditations about a man wrestling trying to balance his desire for acceptance from those he loves and the acclaim of the general public. It's another testament to Cage's brilliant pivot to late-career cerebral classics.
#6. Raising Arizona
It's easy to forget that before the Coen Brothers were delivering Oscar worthy films on a semi-regular basis, their first break into mainstream success was a screwball comedy about a white trash outlaw who steals a baby for his barren sweetheart. But once you get passed the dated physical comedy and cartoonish score, Raising Arizona shows plenty of signs of what's to come from the prolific directing duo. The clever depiction of class disparity in the Reagan 80's and quirky humor elevate this to it's cult classic status and Nic Cage's lovable loser H.I. McDonnough served as one hell of a launching pad for Cage's career as a leading man.
#5. Kick-Ass
Before Birdman, The Boys, or even Deadpool; Kick-Ass served as the go-to skewering of the superhero sub-genre. And yes it holds up, much better than most of the contemporary comic book films it mocks. Just don't bother with the sequel. But one of the primary things that makes the first film great is the supporting performance from Cage as Big Daddy. Channeling a more cynical and jaded Adam West style vigilante, Cage's role as Big Daddy and the breakout performance from Chloe Grace Moretz steal the entire film. Their chemistry as a father-daughter crime fighting family in training works as the perfect counterpart to Kick-Ass' rise to prominence.
#4. The Weather Man
Known mostly for his work on tent-pole blockbusters like the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and Rango, Gore Verbinski's best work to date can be found in this criminally overlooked portrait of a divorced weather man grappling with middle age. Cage was typecast as a morose, walking midlife crisis quite a bit after Leaving Las Vegas but the dry and dark tone of this bleak dramedy is pitch perfect and Cage's ability to flip between disenchanted and unhinged is utilized brilliantly here. Between trying to crawl out of the shadow of his prominent father while vying for his approval, piecing back together his broken family and fighting for professional dignity (and to finally stop getting fast food hurled at him by bypassing strangers) - this is sad dad Nic Cage at its best.
#3. Mandy
A neon fever dream of drug induced vengeance, it's nearly impossible to imagine anyone bringing Panos Cosmatos' vivid spiral of intoxicating rage to life better than Nic Cage does. From the incredible synthwave soundtrack by Johann Johannsson to the buzzing florescent color glowing in every frame, this is one of the best throwback horror films you'll find from the 2010's and Cage's best role in over a decade. The premise is a bit one note but it's delivered with so much flair and personality that you can't help but follow along on Cage's descent into madness with how effectively the spiral pulls you in.
See where Mandy ranks on our list of the Best Horror Films of the 2010s
#2. Adaptation
Hot off the success of their groundbreaking debut, Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman re-team for this fourth-wall breaking tale of Kaufman developing his follow up with Nicolas Cage portraying both the neurotic writer and his fictional meathead brother Donald. That's right, two Nic Cage's for the price of one. It's as brilliantly bizarre as anything Kaufman's ever written and with Cage in a Curb Your Enthusiasm-style caricature of the anxiously introspective Kaufman narrating our way through the madness, it's a shock this film didn't earn him a second Oscar. If it wasn't for the Academy's obsession with musicals and the weird redemptive narrative around Roman Polanski (still fleeing extradition to the U.S. after fleeing conviction for sodomizing a 13 year old) Adaptation should have absolutely dominated that year's award ceremonies. It's one of the best films about the creative process you'll ever see.
#1. Bringing Out The Dead
There was a lot to live up to when screenwriter Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese reunited for another tale of the gritty underbelly of Manhattan night life 23 years after their cultural landmark, Taxi Driver. But this tale of a burnt out paramedic who can't shake the ghosts of his turbulent past makes for the most underrated entry on Scorsese's prolific resume. From it's pitch black comedic sidekicks in John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore to Nic Cage's manic despair for inner peace - this film is an unsung classic lost in a year of phenomenal peers like Fight Club, American Beauty, Magnolia, The Sixth Sense and The Matrix. But it absolutely deserves revisiting. The brutal depiction of a man processing immense grief, addiction, and solace framed by Scorsese's harsh and haunting glow of the city that never sleeps makes for a cinematic experience not to be missed. An underappreciated classic and Nic Cage's best film to date.
See where it ranks among The Top 10 Martin Scorsese Movies of All Time Here.
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