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Dir: Werner Herzog Starring: Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes IMDB Rotten Tomatoes Detective <Nicolas Cage>'s descent into narcotic madness after a back injury, gambling, hot Eva Mendes <prostitute girlfriend>, and some incredibly strong supporting actors and cameo's by some recognizable faces. This movie had the traces of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets The Departed. I've been trying to dig around and see why it wasn't more widely released (Something like less than 1 million box office sales?), but to no avail. The director is not widely known in the American popular consciousness but has some recognizable titles that a lot of people may have heard of but never seen. But this movie was fantastic, for what it was. It was somewhat other-worldly in the way it frames certain issue's, neglects certain aspects of the the obvious story, and some of the incredibly rapid plot twists that occur. The slurry of the narcotic haze doesn't help with the viewer's orientation. It's also deceiving long. At a run time of just under two hours, it feels like it's dragging already in the first half hour, but its a product of the narrative moving along quickly while still harvesting the classic Bourbon Street lazy lull. It's really a work of art, how it all came together. It surprises when you won't expect it, and will appear to let you do down when you feel invested, only to return richer dividends later. A must see for anyone cares for the Crime Genre. Pro's: Rapid, gunslinging, drug-addled pace; incredibly strong lead by Cage, Hot Eva Mendes, compelling narrative and snappy dialogue. Cons: Drags with some of the druggy scenes, and for this some people may hate it. 4/5 - only because i can't figure out why it isn't more well known, and because it has a bizarre ending. ilshur fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Dec 7, 2009 |
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Dec 7, 2009 13:29
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one of my favorite movies I've seen this year for sure. Haven't thought much of nicholas cage before really but this movie made me a fan for sure
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Mar 17, 2010 01:41
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The Nicolas Cage we loved is BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! indeed. Hilarious and nevertheless not completely devoid of depth. I cannot remember laughing this hard during a movie ever. The only recent film that comes close as an experience for me was "The Chaser" (Korea). 5/5 network.guy fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Sep 6, 2010 |
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Sep 6, 2010 01:19
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It seems that all too often people who are mentally unstable are meant to play people that don't know the meaning of that phrase. There are few actors who can portray real madness: Daniel Day Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, and Nicholas Cage. The more I follow Nic Cage's careerer the more I think he isn't acting... Regardless, this film follows a persons life when it takes turns that they don't expect, and still try and do the right thing. Honestly, as someone with a mental illness and a real job Nic Cage'ss pretrial of insanity is nothing short of spot on. With out my meds His Terence McDonagh is a man tourtured by by Terence's own shortcomings filtered through an unrealistic judgement that people of that illness face on a day to day basis. The only people I can think of who would have trouble calling his portrait of mental illness accurate are people who only learn of mental illness from the movies. His performance is masterful. I wish I could convey to you how accurate his character is, but I fear there are no words to do so. In short this is an amazing performance of a man suffering from severe mental problems compounded by substance abuse. A loving amazing portrait. 5/5
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Feb 8, 2011 03:11
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I do not understand the love this film is getting. I thought it was hilariously terrible. One of Herzog's worst.
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Mar 31, 2011 09:34
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