The latest in our series of writers on their most important comfort films is a celebration of Nicolas Cage’s finest action moment
It’s easy to poke fun at Nicolas Cage. Between the meltdown memes, dodgy hairdos and his more taxman-friendly choices of roles, he has frequently made himself a target for ridicule among the masses.
Fresh off an Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas, the actor’s decision to follow up with three action films must have seemed baffling at the time. The gambit paid off, though. Consisting of The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off, this unofficial “trilogy” of blockbusters would showcase the fundamental unknowability of Nicolas Cage.
Simon West’s Con Air was my first exposure – a spiritual awakening facilitated by my father when I was 15 years old. “Fill your boots,” he said, as he handed over the tape with a knowing smile. The experience would serve as a coming-of-age moment, setting into motion a love of Cage’s work that still pervades. He has been characteristically busy since then, but Con Air is the one I keep coming back to, reawakening the teenage boy inside every single time.
At its core, Con Air is pure, distilled Nicolas Cage. Cameron Poe is effectively the straight man to a whole aeroplane of lunatics, and Cage’s performance is perfectly calibrated to the film he’s in. Mullet, southern-fried accent and all, he approaches the role with absolute sincerity. “I have gone out of my way not to be ironic and – with the risk of looking ridiculous – to be genuinely emotionally naked,” the star once said, reflecting on his so-called “nouveau shamanic” acting style.
