Joe
Which version of Nic Cage is in this film — the genuis, the madman, or the hack?
Overview
Few actors in Hollywood are as baffling as Nicholas Cage. From his Academy Award winning turn in Leaving Las Vegas to his self-effacing double act in Adaptation, he's repeatedly proven himself an actor of incredible talents. And yet for every great film on his resume, there's a Wicker Man or Vampire's Kiss. Even some of Cage's best performances, such as in Kick-Ass or Bad Lieutenant, blur the line between brilliant and batshit.
Then there are films like National Treasure and Bangkok Dangerous, where it seems like the only thing he cared about was getting paid. So which version of Cage is in the newly released Joe — the genius, the madman or the hack? As it happens, we're pleased to report that director David Gordon Green gets one of the actor's best performances in some time.
A brooding shard of contemporary Southern Gothic, Joe stars Cage as a short-tempered ex-convict doing his best to stay out of trouble. Living in rural Texas, he makes his money leading logging crews, and is well liked by everyone who works for him. When 15-year-old Gary (Tye Sheridan) approaches him for a job, Joe takes the teenager under his wing.
The dynamic between Joe and Gary provides the backbone of the film, recalling the surrogate father-son pairing in last year's critical darling Mud. The comparison is obvious, least of all because both films starred Sheridan, who grows increasingly more impressive with every passing role. But Gordon Green trades Mud's lyricism for a grimmer, more hard-edge tone. When Joe finds out that Gary's alcoholic father (played with chilling menace by non-actor Gary Poulter) is acting abusive, his own brutal temperament comes to the fore.
In a way, it feels like the part Cage was born to play. Joe is a character of deep, internal contradiction — selfless, but wracked by a violent anger that he struggles to control. It's fascinating watching Cage play a man who is constantly trying to restrain himself, when as an actor he's best known for throwing caution to the wind. Certainly, it's among the most restrained performances in his more than 30 year career, and a reminder of how good he can really be.
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