Watching every Nic Cage movie before the end of 2022 (72/72)
This was the last of the Nicolas Cage movies I had left to watch, so I guess I've now technically seen everything he's ever starred in (at least those that were released prior to 2022, given some of his most recent films haven't had a wide release yet).
It was a journey filled with ups and downs... arguably more downs, but I was ready for that. Cage has been in so many movies, and while I think a lot of them are kind of bad, I think it was extremely rare to find a film where Cage himself was bad. He phoned it in infrequently, and the vast majority of the time, he gave the movie his all, even if that movie was never going to be good.
As for Joe? It's certainly not one of his best movies, but it's solid. I think his lead performance is quite good, and I like what the film's going for, but it's written and edited together in a pretty haphazard way. I think it's doing this to heighten a sense of realism or authenticity, but it just doesn't quite work the same way other movies have taken this approach and been successful (you could look at Chloe Zhao's movies that aren't Eternals, for example)
If you want a very gritty and grim character drama, Joe is solid, but definitely inconsistent. There are a few highlights and Cage gives a strong lead performance, but it's not one that I thought was particularly great or impactful. I didn't end my journey through Cage's filmography with a bang, but at least it didn't conclude with a total whimper.
This was the last of the Nicolas Cage movies I had left to watch, so I guess I've now technically seen everything he's ever starred in (at least those that were released prior to 2022, given some of his most recent films haven't had a wide release yet).
It was a journey filled with ups and downs... arguably more downs, but I was ready for that. Cage has been in so many movies, and while I think a lot of them are kind of bad, I think it was extremely rare to find a film where Cage himself was bad. He phoned it in infrequently, and the vast majority of the time, he gave the movie his all, even if that movie was never going to be good.
As for Joe? It's certainly not one of his best movies, but it's solid. I think his lead performance is quite good, and I like what the film's going for, but it's written and edited together in a pretty haphazard way. I think it's doing this to heighten a sense of realism or authenticity, but it just doesn't quite work the same way other movies have taken this approach and been successful (you could look at Chloe Zhao's movies that aren't Eternals, for example)
If you want a very gritty and grim character drama, Joe is solid, but definitely inconsistent. There are a few highlights and Cage gives a strong lead performance, but it's not one that I thought was particularly great or impactful. I didn't end my journey through Cage's filmography with a bang, but at least it didn't conclude with a total whimper.