Author Topic: PIG: Nicholas Cage at his best  (Read 702 times)

Offline perc2100

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PIG: Nicholas Cage at his best
« on: July 26, 2021, 02:12:27 PM »
PIG, the new film from first-time film director Michael Sarnoski (who also wrote the screenplay), is Nicholas Cage at his absolute best.  I don't make that declaration as a surprise, more out of excitement.  I've been a fan of Cage's work most of his career: from VALLEY GIRL, to COTTON CLUB, to Raising Arizona and far beyond.  Cage has shown the sort of range that most actors dream of; he's able to have fun and carry a solid, tentpole action movie (who else could deliver "drop the bunny" in CON AIR with the sort of gravitas and fun that Cage does?!), as well as heavy dramatic roles.  His well-deserved Oscar for LEAVING LAS VEGAS, a film I admire the hell out of but find it incredibly hard to watch since seeing it opening night in theaters (one I've owned on DVD since the late 90's but have never watched again), is a reminder that Cage has the dramatic chops, and flexes them when he has the right script and director.  I think a lot of folks have slept on him over the last few decades, as he's been honest about taking acting jobs merely because they pay enough for him to pay down his substantial debt (he's bought islands, castles, dinosaur skulls that were later repo'ed when found to have been stolen before being sold to him, etc).  He goes all-in with roles, and he knows when to have fun (see this year's WILLY'S WONDERLAND), and when to show restraint.

PIG gives him all the necessary properties to shine, in what's a fairly understated performance.

Cage plays Robin (Rob), a truffle forager/former chef who lives a life of recluse in the Pacific Northwest.  His pig helps him locate the truffles, which he sells to Amir (HEREDITARY'S Alex Wolf), a relatively new buyer that supplies restaurants.  One day he finds himself under attack in his cabin in the woods, in a visceral scene shot and staged in a way that makes the audience as taken aback and disjoined as Rob is, and when he wakes he finds his pig missing.  Thus beings his journey to get his pig back.

I know what you're thinking, and it's what a lot of the internet thought as well: this is JOHN WICK only substitute "dog killed" with "pig stolen."  The trailers don't exactly promise that premise, but they kind of tease it.  But this film is something else entirely: a truly moving experience that is a meditation on loss and grief.  After the attack w/in the first 10 or so minutes of the film (mostly shrouded in darkness, where even the viewer has no idea who stole the pig), there is very little action to be had as Rob investigates who could've stolen his pig.  Amir drives him around both the rural areas where other truffle forages do business, as well as into the city where he talks to a former past chef employee of his.  PIG is a relatively quiet film, which gives the actors space to emote.

Besides marveling at Cage's performance, I found myself wondering where exactly PIG was going, and how it would resolve (or, IF it would resolve).  Nowadays a film rarely surprises me and I appreciate when I'm able to find myself caught up in the journey of the characters, and not able to guess successfully what happens when Rob goes from point A to point B.  To bring things back to JOHN WICK, while I really enjoy watching those action fests, I don't think there's much question broadly what's going to happen with one of those films.  Watching PIG, I found myself entering Act 3 and really wondering how this was going to end: obviously there are only a few options of if Rob is reunited with the pig, but we don't learn if Cage's character has a reunion or not, revenge on the perpetrator, etc.  Even Rob's methodology of extracting information feels like a contrast to many other mainstream films: again, a refreshing development!

The film is well made, with the visual style reflecting the meditative, thoughtful theme of the film.  Sarnoski has experience as an editor, and that shows with the good pacing of not just the film itself but his choices of shots.  He does some real nice framing at times, and the whole film feels very deliberately paced.  The audience is taking this journey with Rob, and we're with him every step of the way into his unknown world of deep-woods truffle foraging and beyond.  This is an excellent film, and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if PIG earns Cage another Oscar nomination (he was last nominated for his brilliant work in ADAPTATION).