Nic Cage Neo-Noir

This weekend, I watched two film noirs starring Nicolas Cage, and what an interesting double bill it was.

First up, Red Rock West, directed by John Dahl and written by Dahl and his brother, Rick. Cage stars as Michael Williams, a down-on-his-luck man who ain't got nothin' but the shirt on his back and the wheels on the road. As the movie begins, he has just driven all the way from the Tex/Mex border to Red Rock, a town so deep in the middle of nowhere, it's barely evolved from its origins in the Old West. Mike is there for a job in construction that a buddy had promised him, but when Mike refuses to lie on the application about his mildly bad leg, he soon learns that he's made his long trip for nothing. Mike ventures into town, where he meets Wayne Brown, a bartender who mistakes Mike for Lyle, a man he has hired sight unseen. Desperate for cash, Mike pretends to be Lyle so that he can take the job -- only to discover that the job is to murder Wayne's wife.

If you think I've given too much away, relax; all of that happens in the first ten minutes of the film. The conventions of film noir require lots of double-crosses and plot twists, and there are two ways such a formula can go: either it uses its twists as random curve-balls to throw at the viewer, or, if it's written well, it's fair with how it twists the plot, earning each development with an undeniable internal logic.

Red Rock West definitely fits into the latter category. If you like good writing, this is a joy to watch. Mike is an everyman, just dumb enough to keep getting in trouble, but just smart enough to consistently think himself out of his problems. Of course, the plot requires Mike to deal with a situation that's already awkward, complicated, and dangerous even before the real hitman shows up. (And if you think that's giving something away, come on, how could you think for even a second that he wouldn't turn up? Don't you know anything about movies?)

The second film I watched was as awful as Red Rock West is delightful. Deadfall stars Michael Biehn as Joe Dolan, a con artist who works with a a group of fellow con-men led by his old man, Mike Dolan (James Coburn). The story is set in motion when, in the opening scene, a con goes bad and Joe accidentally shoots his old man dead. Dolan, Sr.'s dying words are like a quest and a riddle wrapped into one: He tells Joe to find "the cake" that Mike's brother took from him. This is news to Joe, who didn't even know Mike had a brother, and also a rather confusing dying wish, since Joe has no idea what his old man means by the phrase "the cake."

Still, when a co-worker advises Joe to leave town for a while, Joe decides to seek out his uncle and solve the mystery. His uncle, "Big" Lou Dolan, turns out to be his old man's identical twin, who earns his living as a loan shark. Before he knows it, Joe finds himself working for his uncle, often paired with Lou's employee, Eddie (Nicolas Cage). Also before he knows it, Joe finds himself in a love triangle with Eddie and Eddie's girlfriend, Diane.

Deadfall spectacularly fails in pretty much every way that Red Rock West succeeds. I'm talking acting, casting, pacing, and writing.

First, let's talk about the acting. At some point while watching Red Rock West, I remember thinking that it was really a Nicolas Cage movie for people who don't like Nicolas Cage. Cage can be guilty of over-acting at times, it's true, but I think he gets a bum rap, and is a better actor than most people give him credit for. In comedy terms, Red Rock West basically casts him as a straight man, whose job is to react to the crazy characters all around him. Cage finds the perfect note for his everyman character; the performance is at once credible, nuanced, and almost under-stated.

Compare that to his performance as Eddie in Deadfall, a performance that is the epitome of exactly why some people hate, hate, hate Nicolas Cage. Ladies and gentlemen, I myself don't hate, hate, hate Nicolas Cage, but I certainly hate, hate hated him in Deadfall. Over-acting doesn't even begin to describe what's going on here. Odd body movements, weird speaking cadences, and a pointlessly nasal voice are just some of the bizarre quirks Cage brings to the character. The performance is so bad that I've since learned that Deadfall has a cult status among people who like movies that are "so bad that it's good," and these fans invariably cite Cage's acting as the draw. I've never been one of those people. To me, if a movie is bad, it's just bad. And hoo boy, does Cage stink up the place in Deadfall.

Michael Biehn does better as Joe Dolan, although Biehn's reading of the voice-over narration is as emotionally flat as a reluctant high schooler forced to read in English class. I can't tell if Biehn just sucks at reading narration, or if he was reacting to the diction, which is also strictly high school level.

Deadfall surrounds Biehn and Cage with pointless star cameos. Charlie Sheen, Peter Fonda, and Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees) are some of these familiar faces, and I wonder if director/producer/writer Christopher Coppola cast all of these people because he was trying to distract the audience from the movie's dreadfully slow pace and thoroughly uninteresting characters. The central mystery (what, exactly, is "the cake" that Mike wanted Joe to find?) has the potential to be intriguing, but it isn't long before we stop caring, especially when you cringe every time Cage and his terrible performance appear on screen, which is, unfortunately, a lot.

Compare this to the delightful mystery at the center of Red Rock West, which keeps you spell-bound despite a general lack of star power. The only real "name actors" in the film are Cage, the late, great J.T. Walsh (as the bartender who mistakes Cage's character for the mysterious Lyle), and Dennis Hopper (as a man who gives Cage's character a ride in his car, and ends up getting involved in the story -- in what ways, I'll never tell!).

Bottom line: Watch Red Rock West. Pay attention to every second. Thank me later for the recommendation. And, by all means, for the love of God, stay away from Deadfall. Unless, of course, you like movies that are "so bad they're good." In that case, my friend, I cannot help you.