I sometimes like Nicolas Cage movies, even though he is the worst actor and ugliest movie star of our generation (yes, even more so than Harvey Keitel and Scarlett Johansson). But it takes a good director and a great plot to make up for the horridness that is Nicolas – and this movie didn’t have either.Nicolas is SO ugly, has such a horrible voice and inflection, nasty hair, and simply cannot act. Nicolas as an MIT professor? Seriously? Too much of a stretch for me. Is this the sequel to Leaving Las Vegas? Nicolas drinks a ton, nearly into oblivion as in that downer film. In one horrendous acting scene, Nicolas screams to the hidden stranger, “Hey, want some of this?!!!??” and then hits a tree with his baseball bat. Hilariously bad. When Nicolas says, in that screeching droll voice, “EE is everyone else!!”, it was too reminiscent of Heston’s “Soylent Green is people!” – and I mean that in all the bad ways.
The kid’s acting was surprisingly good, until the end when he had to cry. He was a very sweet kid, especially in the cool scene where the video his mom (since dead) singing him to sleep sings him to sleep each night still.
The overall theme of the movie is that Nicolas finds some numbers in a time capsule that seem to predict catastrophic events, including exact days and places – and that The Biggee is about to happen. Throw in some aliens and another head pounding global warming message from Hollywood, and some lame discussions of determinism vs. randomness, with a small dose of religious skepticism. Also, some bad parenting – “I will never let that happen to you. Do you near me? Never.” Uh, no parent could promise this, but especially not in these ridiculously dire circumstances. And how many times are they leave the kids in the back of the car during a dangerous scene? Apparently, at least 4.
Why did Nicolas rip the white board off the wall, in order to carry it into the other room, just to continue writing on the same white board? There were multiple such extraneous nonsensical scenes.
The jet crash scene (as in the previews) was very cool, including its aftermath. Also, cool subway special effects, though it’s unrealistic to think that train crash would slide for so long. The beginning had an excellent depiction of a disciplined classroom in 1959. I want that now!
In better hands this could be not so predictable, not so lame. There was much too clear foreshadowing of upcoming events (e.g., subway). It was about 30 minutes too long. And best of all, I almost had to leave the theater because I was laughing so hard when the alien opened his mouth and the light came out – so insanely cheesy. In fact, this very good laugh I had (at a completely unintended comedic scene from the filmmaker) is the only reason the movie gets a 3 instead of a 2.
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I would rate the movie a 6. I agree with much of your write-up. However, it was very entertaining and even somewhat suspenseful!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to like it. The trailer looked good. The premise seemed fascinating. And I actually like Nick Cage. But this movie sucked after the first 15 minutes. As they say, "If it ain't on the page, it won't be on the stage." Who are these trolls funding this stuff? No wonder our economy is in the toilet - we piss away money like it's made of paper. Oh, wait....
ReplyDeleteI'd give this a 5 out of 10, and I'm being generous. Cage should stick with the National Treasure franchise, which are very good films. And this guy is SOOOoooo rich, he really doesn't need to make tripe. If he doesn't have good artistic judgment, he ought to hire someone to select his projects for him.