|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
Preview by Jack Foley |
NICOLAS Cage has experienced something of a personal and professional rollercoaster
over the past couple of years. Long gone are the days when the star could
do no wrong (following his Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas and critical acclaim
for action movies such as The Rock and Face/Off).
Of late, the actor seems to be experiencing as many career lows as he does
highs, while personally his much-publicised marriage to Lisa Marie Presley
was over as quickly as it began.
His reunion with Face/Off director, John Woo, for last year’s Windtalkers,
failed to ignite at the Box Office, but he appeared to be getting things back
on track with Adaptation, the long-awaited
and critically well-received follow-up to Being
John Malkovich (from the creative team of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman).
Alas, the return to form appears to be short-lived, for his latest, Sonny,
which marks his debut as a director, has been roundly slated by the US media,
who have already earmarked it as a strong contender for one of 2003’s
worst movies.
Starring James Franco (of Spider-Man
fame), the movie chronicles the adventures of a male hustler who joins the
Army to escape his life as a gigolo. After being discharged, however, he heads
home to New Orleans determined to get a proper job, only to find that his
mother (Brenda Blethyn) wants him back in the family business.
Aside from Franco and Blethyn, the movie boasts a strong ensemble, including
Cage himself (in a late cameo), Harry Dean Stanton, Mena Suvari and Scott
Caan (of Ocean’s Eleven fame).
But none of the major critics have been at all impressed, with some of the
notices appearing particularly vitriolic.
All of which serves to compound Cage’s misery, for he is also facing
the prospect of being sued by longtime TV writer, Robert Dellinger, 72, who
has written for shows such as Starsky and Hutch and Kojak.
According to Variety, Dellinger is suing Cage and five production companies
for copyright infringement, claiming that he has not got the credit he should
be getting for the film.
The lawsuit, filed in August, is seeking more than $2 million in damages,
as well as trying to prevent the sale of the film overseas.
Which brings us to...
The US critical reaction…
E!
Online awarded it an F and described it as ‘shockingly inept’, while
Film Journal International warned that ‘if a man cannot direct himself,
he ought to think twice about directing others’.
Worse still, was Slant Magazine, which wrote: "That Franco still manages
to evoke compassion for Sonny amidst the steaming piles of shit is a testament
to his powers as an actor."
The New York Post awarded it one out of four and claimed that it was ‘an
instant candidate for worst movie of the year’, while the New York Times
described it as ‘emotionally incoherent’.
LA Weekly, meanwhile, said that it was ‘rancid from conception to culmination’,
while Hollywood Reporter referred to it as ‘a thoroughly unconvincing
melodrama’.
Village Voice concluded that ‘by the time Cage shows up as a gay, lemon-suited
pimp with a pink-dyed poodle, Sonny has found a familiar level of irrelevance’.
On a slightly more upbeat note, Variety wrote that 'Cage makes an unusual
but pleasantly haunting debut behind the camera', while Compuserve referred
to it as 'an engrossing and grim portrait of hookers: what they think of themselves
and their clients'.
But all in all, there was very little for Cage to console himself with. For
we return to E! Online for the final verdict... 'Keep your day job, Nicolas
Cage. This shockingly inept directorial debut reveals the brooding actor to
be a hackneyed helmer'.
PAST FOREIGN LANGUAGE/INDIE PREVIEWS: Click here
for a look at Greg Kinnear's sleazy Auto Focus...
Click here for Denzel Washington's
directorial debut, Antwone Fisher...
Click here for the lowdown on The Hours...
Click here to find out about John Cusack's Max...
Click here for the Oscar controversy surrounding
China's epic, Hero...
Click here to find out about kinky, quirky
Secretary...
Find out why the critics are raving about Personal Velocity. Click here...
Click here for audience Sundance
fave, Real Women Have Curves...
Click here for Brosnan's labour of love, Evelyn...
Click here for the divine Far From
Heaven...
Click here for a look at Igby Goes Down...
Farrell tries to connect with a sniper. Click here
for Phone Booth preview...
Click here for a preview of Tadpole....
Click here to find out why Soderbergh's
Full Frontal has been exposed by the critics...
Click here to find out why Mel Gibson
finds himself irresistibly drawn to The Passion...
Click here for The Magdalene Sisters
preview and Vatican controversy...
Click here for El crimen del Padre
Amaro. Mexican controversy...
