Madness in Method?

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Their most striking similarity between Werner Herzog's about-to-open Bad Lieutenant and Abel Ferrara's 1992 original "is that each stars an actor whose performance is so intensely played and thoroughly inhabited, it can feel like psychosis, possession, a bit of both," N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote yesterday.

Lucius Baston, Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

"They're performances that make you wonder where the character leaves off and the man playing him has taken hold, a slippage that can lead to greatness, but also to moments of such excess and even grotesque comedy that they leave you squirming. Nicolas Cage revels in that slippage, though it was only after seeing Bad Lieutenant that I was reminded of how freaky he can be -- and how exhilarating it can be to watch an actor go far and then just a little too far."

So is Dargis saying that Cage perhaps isn't "acting" as much as you might think he is and therefore isn't really delivering a performance as much as exploring a form of on-camera psychotherapy, which isn't necessarily the sort of thing that might result in a Best Actor nomination? Or that Cage is venturing into new territory by giving a kind of performance that is more than just "acting" although he is, obviously, playing a New Orleans detective on the ragged edge?

Should Cage's Bad behavior, in other words, be primarily processed by the fact that he's not playing a character as much as being queerly and flamboyantly meta? Or should we all just kick back (Manohla included) and just say "whatever...he's acting and he isn't or he is and his therapist is in on it...don't worry about the machinations."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 16, 2009 at 11:16 AM

comment #1

btwnproductions says ...

Too bad the film around him is so listless and plodding; Herzog makes next-to-nothing of the setting. The most outlandish of it will join "Nigga Elk" on YouTube.

Posted by btwnproductions at November 16, 2009 12:05 PM

comment #2

Nork says ...

I am all for honoring a performance that goes to the very edge of being self-revelatory psychotic. However, if Nic Cage gets a Best-Actor nomination for BL:POCNY, i feel it would be an affront to Harvey Keitel and his truly fearless performance from 1992.

Posted by Nork at November 16, 2009 12:25 PM

comment #3

arturobandini2 says ...

I admit, I have always been mystified by Cage's popularity. Just because a class clown is willing to eat boogers and paste for attention doesn't make him a creative genius. Like all extended Coppola relatives, his talent is too marginal to justify the career opportunities he's had.

Maybe if I hadn't almost slammed into him once on a blind curve (he was idling in the middle of a narrow canyon road, yakking on his phone), I'd feel more charitable. But his ultimate phoniness was revealed when he made a big plea for actors to star in independent films during his Leaving Las Vegas Oscar speech -- and then proceeded to sign on for The Rock, Con-Air, Face/Off and City of Angels in the space of a year.

Posted by arturobandini2 at November 16, 2009 12:26 PM

comment #4

corey3rd says ...

Harvey was emotionally falling apart when he made BL. Lorraine Broacco had just left him for Edward James Olmos and stuck him with the kid. The guy was on edge the entire shoot All the drugs were real except for the crack. Zoe Lund is shooting up heroin in the scene. Harvey's babysitter is the girl in the station wagon that watches him masturbate. The stories from the set of BL make Heaven's Gate sound like a Pat Boone special.

Maybe Nic's money problems weighed on his soul, but nothing to the extent of the demons Harvey wrestled on that set.

Posted by corey3rd at November 16, 2009 12:58 PM

comment #5

bozance1 says ...

"The stories from the set of BL make Heaven's Gate sound like a Pat Boone special." Haaaa!!

Didn't realize there was such agony surrounding the original film. That stinks, though it certainly adds to the legend. I didn't like Harvey's "sad" scenes in that film... too depressing, which was the point I suppose.

Posted by bozance1 at November 16, 2009 2:12 PM

comment #6

TulseLuper says ...

It would be a terrible pity if Cage was nominated for an Oscar considering Keitel was so unjustly robbed (Still can't believe Al Pacino won for Scent of a Woman that year. Really?) That said, it does look like one of his better performances. Cage needs directors who know how to conduct his wild imagination; that's why his best work has been in the hands of Mike Figgis, Spike Jonze, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, and Ridley Scott. Can't wait for this film. I doubt it will be on par with the original masterpiece or even Herzog's best work but I doubt I'll be disappointed either.

Posted by TulseLuper at November 16, 2009 2:44 PM

comment #7

btwnproductions says ...

A particularly "revelatory," close-to-the-bone performance it's not--it's a lot of tics and drug-addled shtick, amusing in a going-to-11 way but not much more, and certainly not harrowing. I was at least hoping for a hambone New Orleans accent but he doesn't do one; in fact, no one does, surely a deliberate, but peculiar, touch. (The interiors-bound movie, heavy with plot that Herzog is clueless to know how to animate, could have been set in Scranton or Des Moines or Chicago for all he does with it.)

Posted by btwnproductions at November 16, 2009 3:34 PM

comment #8

corey3rd says ...

Scranton or Des Moines or Chicago don't offer the rebates and tax breaks like New Orleans

Posted by corey3rd at November 16, 2009 3:46 PM

comment #9

MilkMan says ...

Nic Cage isn't half as brave an actor as everyone thinks he is. What he is is vain, and his mugging and scene-stealing are a result of that vanity. If he was such a brave actor he would stop wearing that ridiculous toupe/hair application/wig hat thingee on his head. If he was as great as he thinks he is he would know that sometimes you don't have to do anything. He can't stand still, he can't throw away his lines; it's all about Nic Cage all the time. If he was a woman he would be known as a bitch and a diva. His idea of a complex characterization nowadays involves the color and length of his wigs. The Cage of Wild at Heart and Birdy and Vampire's Kiss and Honeymoon in Vegas is gone and he's never coming. He's not even weird anymore. He's just another cocksucker in a muscle car with a hot Asian chick riding shotgun.

Posted by MilkMan at November 16, 2009 4:09 PM

comment #10

DeeZee says ...

Jeff: Well, he did lose his personal fortune, so I imagine there's a motivation behind the "authenticity" to his performance.

arturo: Cage is a hack, but a non-obnoxious hack. He doesn't plaster his name all over shitty films without at least giving something worth watching, which is more than you can say about the likes of actors like Giamatti and Law.

corey: I didn't know Miramax had anything to do with the pic.

Posted by DeeZee at November 16, 2009 4:18 PM

comment #11

The Hoyk says ...

Shut the fuck up, fake DZ.

Posted by The Hoyk at November 16, 2009 5:37 PM

comment #12

Mighty Kornholio says ...

Razing Arizona is classic. I'm looking forward to this. Hope it's not too bad lol.

Posted by Mighty Kornholio at November 16, 2009 7:05 PM

comment #13

Anthony Thorne says ...

I loved Cage back in the day, but haven't really followed his work after he received a turbo Bruckheimer boost into mega-AAA blockbuster shithouse action movies (though FACE OFF is alright). I think I prefer Herzog's docos to his features, but really have to be in the mood regardless.

Posted by Anthony Thorne at November 16, 2009 7:37 PM

comment #14

BurmaShave says ...

Whoa Giamatti. Dee what are you smoking

Posted by BurmaShave at November 16, 2009 8:16 PM

comment #15

DeeZee says ...

Congrats, Clint.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i8f2c0287dc37ec6b85c5339b1d79d05a
Anyone wanna see Captain Eo again?
http://showbiz411.blogs.thr.com/michael-jacksons-captain-eo-returns-disneyland/
Atonement guy slums with a girls with guns flick? Why not just be honest and call it a remake of Kite?
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/11/joe-wright-in-talks-to-direct-assassin-thriller-hanna.html
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3683909913/ Second link NSFW, btw. There must be a lot of anime fans @ Focus, 'cus they just remade Spirited Away in stop-motion and called it Coraline...
Anyway, behind the FX.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i1a67e2010973789416bb1178e9da3ca4
Not a lot of contenders for Best Actress this year?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i6b92ac9c285d017688ab4210c9d0bf26
Nemo sinks.
http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/11/disney-beaches-captain-nemo-.html
Blige on Precious music.
http://tinyurl.com/yzbsyls
Would these "banned" Iranian filmmakers be getting the same support if they were Israeli?
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011392.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Anyone in a guild wanna see Shane Acker talk 9?
http://awards.filminfocus.com/media/misc/9_DV_Ref112_bw_online.pdf
Horner on Avatar score.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011440.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Nine musical trailer.
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2009/NOPQR/Nine/trailer.php
More Avatar spots and a clip.
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2009/0-9ABC/Avatar/trailer.php

Posted by DeeZee at November 16, 2009 8:50 PM

comment #16

Anthony Thorne says ...

DZ if you think I'm going to read through that long list of spam links you've provided for your own site, let alone click on one of the fucking things, you're completely out of your fucking mind. Have the dignity to piss off and treat this forum with the courtesy you'd doubtlessly expect visitors to extend to your own website, fuckwit.

Posted by Anthony Thorne at November 16, 2009 8:55 PM

comment #17

DeeZee says ...

For some reason, John Stamos got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
http://cbs2.com/local/star.John.Stamos.2.1316504.html

Posted by DeeZee at November 16, 2009 9:21 PM

comment #18

maxevry says ...

Still waiting for Abel Ferrara to direct "Fitzcarraldo: Port of Call Miami".

Posted by maxevry at November 16, 2009 9:26 PM

comment #19

dinovelvet says ...

Don't Cage's "money problems weighing on his soul" basically amount to him having to sell two of his seven homes? And we know the end result of it will be National Treasure 3 : Nic Likes Expensive Shit.

Posted by dinovelvet at November 16, 2009 10:27 PM

comment #20

DeeZee says ...

dino: More like National Treasure 3: This One's So I Don't Get Audited.

Posted by DeeZee at November 16, 2009 10:42 PM

comment #21

lawnorder says ...

I think the cinematography in the new Bad Lieutenant is some of the worst I've seen in a theatrically released feature in years. I liked Cage's performance, though.

Posted by lawnorder at November 16, 2009 11:57 PM

comment #22