Day 60 -- Deadfall

Released: October 8th, 1993

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Michael Biehn, James Colburn, Sarah Trigger

Writer/Director: Christopher Coppola and Nick Vallelonga/Christopher Coppola

Description: After he accidentally kills his father, Mike, during a sting, Joe tries to carry out Mike's dying wish by recovering valuables that Mike's twin brother Lou stole from him years earlier.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

Well, this movie is the perfect ending to Nick Cage week. It had three factors that made it memorable: Terrible writing, terrible acting, and the most ridiculous Cage performance on his resume. I don't even know what to say about this "film".

"Deadfall" was co-written and directed by Cage's brother, Christopher Coppola. The story is that Chris and Nick used to shoot super-8 films as children, with the former directing and writing the score. Knowing that does help to explain why this movie is so poor, it felt like a film that you shoot with out any oversite or notes.

The film's plot involves twin brothers, who are both con-artists, and "cake".  At least that's what I picked up. But in all seriousness, the plot involves a diamond theft (I think?), but Joe (Biehn) is scammed by his Uncle Joe (Colburn). There are so many plot twist and flat out stupidity that the best way to sum it up is to let the Web site Ruined Endings (try?) to explain it.

"Joe Dolan did not fatally shoot his dad Mike, his old man faked his death to sabotage his brother Lou's diamond con with Dr. Lyme allowing Mike to pocket a cool $2 million from Lyme. Lou is killed in a shoot out with Lyme's followers and Joe learns that not only was Patsy (who was in the scam that 'took' Mike's life) in on it, but so was Diane who's (closet wig-wearing) beau...Eddie got boiled to death by Joe. Needless to say Joe's not amused at his pa and empties the cash out onto the streets leaving his delightful dad cursing him as he frantically scrabbles to pick up his wayward cash."

So, yeah that happened.

More importantly, I am discouraged by this poor attempt at a Film Noir. Everything about it is poorly executed, and would even be a bad parody movie. For a person that has experience with music scores, Chris Coppola dropped the ball on this one. The music is out of place as it tries to give a contemporary Noir sound to the film.

Each actor in the film was a different level of terrible. Biehn was the least atrocious, as he has the look and mannerisms to succeed in this type of film, but none of the talent. Taggart wasn't even close to passable as the femme-fatale as her motives were too obvious and any halfway intelligent man would have seen through them. The movie was saved by the fabulously awful performance by Cage, and the equally entertaining turn by Charlie Sheen. Those two appear to know that the movie was bad, and were looking to entertain themselves.

This movie is most blatant example of the notion that it's who you know in Hollywood, not how good you are, but I guess that's true in all walks of life. A few fun facts about "Deadfall", it currently holds a "0%" on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has the honor of having a "3.8" on IMDB. Even "Southland Tales" is over a 5 rating. With all of the panning it received, I have to believe that it was the Coppola name that got the movie released.

"Deadfall" probably wouldn't even have been well received in a pretentious film school class. It's an untalented writer and director trying to emulate the films he loved as a child, like Rob Zombie did in the Horror genre. Only Cage's outrageous performance as Mike makes this movie watchable because it will get you some cheap laughs.

Rating: 1/10 -- I've already spent too many words on this.

Day 59 -- 8MM

Released: February 26th, 1999

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener

Writer/Director: Andrew Kevin Walker/Joel Schmaker

Description: A private investigator is hired to discover if a "snuff film" is authentic or not.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

After watching their most recent collaboration, I thought it would be interesting to go back to the first one. Joel Schmaker and Nick Cage wasted a lot of a studio's money by creating "Trespass", so I wanted to see what they had done together that would give them the leverage. Unfortunately, I'm still looking for that answer.

"8MM" was a movie that tackled a strange subject that would lead one to believe it was more graphic than its finished product. Cage plays private detective, Tom Welles, who is sucked into the investigation of a possible "snuff-film". For those uneducated, a "snuff-film" -- in short -- is one where a real murder is caught on tape or film. During his investigation, Welles delves deep into the world of underground pornography, which "snuff-films" are a part of, and runs in to a producer who creates violent films starring a masked man named "The Machine" (not Pat Burrell). 

Welles eventually figures out that the film is real and brings the villains to justice. The story is alright in spots, but it still followed the pattern of Cage films after "Leaving Las Vegas". I know I'm probably beating a dead horse by now, but it seemed to be a distinct moment in his career where he felt it was important to overact than actually embody the character. Even his reactions to the "film", are a bit over the top when just the idea of the situation should have been enough to prompt the audiences emotions.

The performances were all pretty average, and James Gandolfini really showed his range by playing a sleaze porn recruiter (/sarcasm). The one thing I can say is that it appeared they were all trying to do a good job, and no one was really mailing it in, but the characters really didn't give them much depth to explore. It's one of those cases where the story wasn't strong enough for the talent involved.

The writing on its own was fine. No big plot holes, but the story did get a little crazy near the end. I chalk that up to the writer believing that the movie was moving too slow, and needed to end with a bang. A little more action earlier would have help the films pacing to the climax, but the slow story telling in the first 40 minutes made it feel like two different film when the action was introduced.

The tone and the direction was much better than "Trespass" and helped get me into the movie. It's amazing how something like cinematography, which goes unnoticed by most, makes the difference when a movie is mediocre on all other fronts. I don't know if this means Schmaker has gotten worse as a director, or he picked the wrong cinematographer when he made "Trespass" in 2011.

"8MM" is an enjoyable film, but doesn't stand out enough to be a must watch. It was good to be able to compare this to a movie like "Snake Eyes", which was also dependent on mystery,  and see how the tone of each movie ultimately played a part in the quality of the film.

 Rating: 6/10 -- Solid movie with quality actors, but an average script. A controlled performance by Cage helps the film. Sure, he goes off the rails at times, but it's Cage. The subject matter deserved a better, deeper story.

Day 58 -- Tresspass

Released: October 14th, 2011

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Cam Gigandet, Ben Mendelsohn, Jordana Spiro

Writer/Director: Karl Gajdusek/Joel Schumacher

Description: As they're held for ransom, a husband and wife's predicament grows more dire amid the discovery of betrayal and deception.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

After watching a film that showcased Cage's skills as an actor, it was disappointing to follow that up with a borderline unwatchable film. The home invasion movies are always dumb because there's only so much story you can tell in one location. "Panic Room" is the closest to being a good story for this sub-genre.

"Trespass" is a limited release film that really shouldn't have been green-lit to begin with. There are no original ideas to be found in the 90-plus minute running time. Even the attempted twist are poorly thought out and become convoluted by the end of the film. The most impressive one was rendered moot by the final twist.

The Miller family is held for ransom in the home by four thugs that all have their own motives. While in theory this is appears to be a fresh take, the execution is poor. The leader is there to pay off a debt, his brother is in love with Sarah (Kidman), his girlfriend is a junkie, and a hired gun of the dealer that the leader owes money, and they don't add another more depth to the characters. There are feigned attempts to add back story, but each one is dumber and more predictable than the last. 

It didn't help that none of the actors that played the thugs were any good. Jordana Spiro, who I absolutely loved in "My Boys", was completely miscast as the junkie girlfriend, and Cam Gigandet looked like he was going to cry the entire movie, which was awful for that character. In Gigandet's case, I wonder if he thought being on the verge of crying was a good why to show a psychotic break, but it was a terrible choice nonetheless. The leader played by Ben Mendelsohn was really bad, and his shouting matches with Cage made laugh instead of feel tense.

Acting is only one piece of a poorly constructed film, writing is probably the biggest one, and this script should have been lit on fire. The dialogue held no consequence and the conflicts were more forced than natural. There were way too many twist in the plot, and at no point did you feel the villains could get away with it. But it didn't start so bad, the first "shocking" moment was that Kyle (Cage) had nothing in his safe, and was broke. This was different, but they threw it away by having Gigandet find a stack of money hidden in an unfinished wall. Talk about cliché.

The look of the film was boring as well. The Miller's lived in this beautiful modern house that was barely shown off, and the rooms shown were dark and bleak. I'm sure the movie's tone was part of the reason for this, but during the first act, they had ample time to display their wealth. Also, they gave us no reason to believe that the dealer's hired goon wouldn't have killed everyone after learning that Kyle had nothing in the safe. There was no reason for his mercy, especially after we learned that they had already recovered the lost drugs. All around poor job of story telling.

On the Cage front, he did his recent line reading choice of either screaming or whispering every line of dialogue. I assume his character was supposed to be a hustler, but Nick kept fluctuating him between a crazy person and someone scared shitless. Even for 21st century Cage, this was an awful decision. 

"Trespass" was a bad attempt to be a psychological action thriller. Even "The Ref" had more tension than this movie. It's a shame, Cage and Kidman have reached that point in their careers where they mail in performances to get paycheck, but here we are. This is the perfect example of a movie ruined because of its lack of a strong supporting cast, and should reenforce to every director and casting department that it's more than the marquee names that make a film watchable.

 Rating: 3.5/10 -- Terrible, terrible movie. It was essentially 90 minutes of screaming and Nick Cage in over-sized glasses. The character of the daughter was vastly under used and really could have been left out, which again points to both bad writing and bad casting.

Day 57 -- Kick Ass

Released: April 16th, 2010

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca

Writer/Director: Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman/Matthew Vaughn

Description: Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

With all the rumors swirling around the time of the last Superman movie, most surprising was the casting of Nick Cage as the man of steel. At the time, Cage's body of work didn't make him an obvious choice for the role, especially since he hadn't starred in an action movie of note. The only way he would have been successful was if it was more of a character study than a superhero movie.

"Kick Ass" was that character study/superhero movie. Cage plays "Big Daddy", or former cop Daemon McCready, who's wife committed suicide. He blamed the evil crime boss, Frank D'Amico (Strong) for the tragedy, so after quitting the force he trains his daughter, "Hit Girl" Mindy (Moretz) to be a father-daughter crime fighting duo. This is where they meet lonely teen, Dave Lizewski (Johnson), who after a freak accident becomes impervious to pain and bone breaking. He decides to use this to his advantage and fight crime; that's when he gets roped into the McCready's mission.

The breakout star was the amazing Chole Moretz. She made you forget that she was a pre-teen saying adult language. She was perfect in the whole movie, and gave the movie some emotional depth that I thin would have been missing without her. As good as Aaron Johnson was, his story line wasn't as deep as Moretz' and the movie would have just bee superficial. The McCready's chemistry is the heart of this movie, and they carry the film.

Cage did everything just ridiculous enough that it was interesting and not eye-rollingly stupid. From his mustache to his open scene of him shooting Mindy, he embodies everything that a person trying to be a real-life superhero should have, including an Adam West voice.

Even though this is Nick Cage week and the fact that this movie is much different from the others I'm watching this week (it's good), I must talk about the great direction of Matthew Vaughn. I absolutely love the introduction of "Hit Girl". Everything from the music to the awesome action to the nonchalant attitude displayed by Moretz is pitch perfect. And every scene from there makes us root for them even though they are psychotic. His choice to show the McCready's backstory through a graphic novel style montage was ballsy, but brilliant; it was the ultimate show don't tell.

Most of the time casting directors don't get the credit they deserve, or even the recognition. But Sarah Finn and Lucinda Syson, need to be commended for the supporting cast they put together. Every character is this film was almost perfect, and it really helps the movie separate from your typical parody, or superhero movie.

"Kick Ass" is the first movie in a while that I believe deserved a sequel. The story felt like the beginning of a trilogy. I'm not sure if the movie was profitable enough to warrant it, but the material is there. I'm sure you could bring back most of the main cast since most of them have yet to reach too high of a level of salary, and most would relish the chance to tackle this subject again. It could be a great showcase for Moretz as she transitions in to more adult roles, especially since they already laid the ground work for her character's ascension to top notch heroine.

This was a surprise hit and one I wanted to showcase this week because Cage tends to get raked over the coals for his script choices, and this one was a brilliant decision. It shows that when Cage is at the top of his game, his one of the top actors out. It's just a shame that he has been so inconsistent since "Leaving Las Vegas" because he could have been one of the greats.

Rating: 8/10 -- Great film with a high rewatchability. The main actors all bring something different to the table and work really well together. Matthew Vaughn's action scenes are the best I've seen in a while, and really help take this movie over the top.

Day 56 -- Snake Eyes

Released: August 7th, 1998

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino

Writer/Director: David Koepp/Brian De Palma

Description: A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

 

I would like to revise my statement from the last review and say that Cage's turn as Det. Rick Santoro is the perfect Nick Cage role. He gets to freak out a lot, while being the sleaziest cop on the planet, or better known as an Atlantic City Police detective. He plays the comedy as well as the drama, but sometimes it's harder to know which to laugh at.

"Snake Eyes" is a conspiracy/action movie set in a soon to close arena on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Santoro's friend, Lieutenant Dan...err, Commander Kevin Dunne (Sinise), has concocted a mass conspiracy to ensure the passage of a missile defense program, which includes killing the Secretary Charles Kirkland. The movie plays out like a typical piece together mystery movie, even though some things are way more obvious than the movie wants them to be. Even the most naive audience member could tell that Dunne's story was bullshit, and therefore knew he was involved.

Sinise's performance of the villain was one of the better roles that he is not remembered for, but he does a great job of going from honorable to evil with very reasonable choices. Even when Cage does his flamboyant act in the first act of the movie, Sinise is very cool and collected. His character believes what he's fighting for, which in theory isn't the worst thing in the world: protecting soldiers. But it's the fact that he is backed by a greedy casino owner that makes his acts deplorable, and the murdering of a government official.

Dunne's second target is played by the beautiful, Carla Gugino, who only has one scene of impact. She reveals the conspiracy to Santoro, even though he really has no reason to believe her. She somehow convinces him and he decides to protect her. Gugino is alright in the film, she doesn't have much screen time, but she does succeed in not botching the explanation dialogue. She, like most other things in the movie, is mediocre.

The story in the film is very late 90s, or pre-9/11. There is no way that a dignitary like the Secretary of Defense would only be guarded by a Naval Commander at a public event. And to be more nitpicky, there's no way that the concession area would be that clear of people so that they could pull this off. I know dissecting a fictional conspiracy movie is overkill, but sometime the lack of attention to detail kills me. One that annoys me to no end is how the "winning boxer" is still celebrating in the ring even after the shots have been fired. Honestly, how does 1) the director, or the script supervisor (am I wrong?), miss this, and 2) the editor not leave it on the cutting room floor. This much more amateur than your average continuity issue.

"Snake Eyes" was a noble attempt at a government conspiracy movie. The writing is fine for the genre, but the story itself is very boring. It feels like one of those ideas that looks great in the writer's room, but when it comes to creating a script, no one can quite figure it out. It's the movie version of "The George Wendt Show".

Rating: 5/10 -- Average is about the best way to describe it. It is top three on the ridiculous Cage performances list, and should be seen just for that.

Day 55 -- The Weather Man

Released: October 28th, 2005

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis

Writer/Director: Steve Conrad/Gore Verbinski

Description: A Chicago weather man, separated from his wife and children, debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

When an actor fits a character, it is a beautiful thing to watch. Now that does not always equal a good movie, or even a mediocre movie. There are still two components to a film, writing and directing, that determine its quality. Actors are sometimes panned for bad acting when the either the writing was bad, or the director was terrible. Of course the same could be said that a bad actor sours a great script and beautiful direction.

"The Weather Man" achieved the old, 'Two out of three ain't bad'. While not his best performance, Cage did a wonderful job showing the degradation of a man. This is the one case where his overacting tendency helped rather than hurt his performance. His reaction to the apple pie being thrown at him was the perfect blend of ridiculousness and genius; it was the best way to show that he'd finally had enough.

Cage played Chicago weather man Dave Spitz, who is on the verge of reaching the top level of his profession by become the weather anchor for a Good Morning America clone. During what should be the happiest time of his life, he's on the complete opposite end of the scale in his personal life. He has separated from his wife, his daughter's being teased, and his song is about to be molested, and he is becoming more estranged the harder he tries to reconcile.

What this film shows you is that Cage is at his best in a dark comedy. "Raising Arizona" is probably the best example of this because no one could have played that role as well as he did. Cage gets in trouble when he tries too much drama and action without much comedy. Mediocre performances, such as those in the "National Treasure" movies, occur when he tries to be too careful in script choices. Being aggressive with choice can also back fire, which explains "Knowing". Even at age 48, he still appears to be trying to show that he has range as an actor, which is a foolish choice to make because he could make a nice living in dark comedy or Cohen brothers movies.

Despite Cage's performance, the only other actor who was any good was Michael Caine, and he was barely above average for him. Caine played Spritz's dying father, who is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist in the 70s, was the perfect yang to Cage's yin. Every scene in which Dave's frustration reached a crescendo, Robert would be there to bring his son back to reality. It was a very understated performance, and I wished that he was in it more.

Spritzer kids were pretty terrible even for kid actors, which disappointed me because I enjoyed Nicholas Hoult in both "About a Boy" and the British TV show, "Skins". I wished that anyone, but Hope Davis played Spritz's wife. She not offensively bad at acting, but I've never really liked her in anything. Maybe it goes back to her role on the short lived show "Six Degrees", but I don't know, maybe its one of those things.

"The Weather Man" is a well-made movie. Cage is perfect in the role of a spiraling out of, man, and the writing is solid. But the direction was lacking, and I wish I could pinpoint why. Maybe it was because he didn't get any of the actors outside of Cage and Caine to be mediocre. Or maybe because nothing really stood out in terms of a particular shot. Or I didn't get it. Either way, it was a good direction job away from being a good movie.

Rating: 6/10 -- One of the better Cage performance, but the movie itself doesn't separate it self as either good or so bad it's good. Caine was underutilized and Davis was over used, which is to say she was hired. Induced some chuckles out of me, but most were because of Cage and not the writing.

Day 54 -- Season of the Witch

Released: January 7th, 2011

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ron Pearlman, Claire Foy, Stephen Campbell Moore, Robert Sheehan

Writer/Director: Bragi F. Schut/Dominic Sena

Description: 14th-century knights transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

There is nothing more frustration than a movie that doesn't know what it wants to be, and ends up being nothing. Sure, you can dabble into different genres, but the film needs something to ground it. If you're going for comedy, then go all comedy, or if you're going epic, the go full epic, but please don't go back and forth without being successful in either.

"Season of the Witch" tries to be a historical, epic and comedic movie all at the same time. Unfortunately, it fails at all three. Nick Cage and Ron Pearlman play super Templar Knights, who after killing 1,000 "infidel" villagers, gain a conscience and leave the the crusades. On their travels the run across a town that is infested with the plague, and believes the source of the affliction is a witch. So to avoid the death penalty they agreed to take the witch to some monks to have a "fair trial", which didn't really happen at the time. Historical accuracy failed.

The second act is where they tried to reach the epic levels of "Fellowship of the Ring". They walk for a good half-hour and nothing happens. The action picks up when they are attacked by a pack of wolves which, from what I heard, had more wolf punching than "The Gray". Unfortunately, this scene comes at the end of the travel. Honestly, the action ranged from terrible to ridiculous, especially the opening fight which had an over the top voice over attached. Epic, failed.

Now, we move on to the climax and the laughable third act. First, the predicable twist that the monks have all died from the plague, and then the girl is found to be possessed and not a witch. This transition into the moment in the movie where I laughed out loud alone in my house: the introduction of the "demon". I mean, seriously, it looked like the CG department took every B-movie devilish creature and morphed it into one. It had a deep voice, bat wings with talons, and the face looked almost exactly like photo of Lucifer from any classic painting, so it was created by 5th grader. Even its death was generic, which was your standard burn to death by the reading of a prayer. Comedic moments missed.

While the movie was ridiculous, the performances were exactly what you would expect from a movie starring Cage and Pearlman. Nick continues his current trend of overacting everything, and looks over matched in the action scenes. This is where Pearlman comes in. He tends to underact at times, but kicks ass in the action scenes, but neither helps make the movie good. The breakout performance was Claire Foy as she was equal parts creepy and mysterious, and did her best to keep you guessing whether or not she was a witch. She could definitely have a future in period films because she has a natural beauty, which is needed when lots of make-up is not an option.

For the first film of Nick Cage week, "Season of the Witch" is a good example of how far he has fallen since "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Raising Arizona". He has become an actor who is only going for a paycheck; I use the "Ghost Rider" sequel as an example. If this movie, would have stuck to one theme with others sprinkled in occasionally. This is a borderline B-movie that with small tweaks would have been could have been a solid adventure movie.
,
Rating: 4.5/10 -- A nice way to start off Nick Cage week, but it wasn't bad enough to be good. I hope this changes as the week progresses. Was wishing this could have gone into my Nick Cage guilty pleasure movie vault, but alas... ,

Day 49 -- It Could Happen to You

Released: July 29th, 1994

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Perez, Wendell Pierce, Stanley Tucci

Writer/Director: Jane Anderson/Andrew Bergman

Description: A police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

What would you do?

Let's forget the the fairy tale aspect of "It Could Happen to You", and discuss the moral issue that the movie presents. If you won the lottery, would you split it with a complete stranger because you promised? Now, I'm talking a verbal agreement with nothing in writing. There's no expectations from the stranger, and no one would think less of you if you decided to keep it. Even with all of these factors making it easy to be selfish, would you still keep the promise?

The answer is simple for Officer Charlie Lang (Cage). The righteous and charitable Queens native keeps his word and gives half of his winnings to a waitress because he promised it as a tip. He thought about it, but it was never in doubt what he would do. Lang was written perfectly, he never deviated from his morals, and you always knew what he was going to do.

Of course, none of this melded with his money-hungry wife, Muriel (Perez). She was as selfish as he was philanthropic, and it eventually dissolved their marriage. The one key thing the writer did was establish her greedy ways prior to winning the lottery. The contrast between Muriel and Charlie was somehow realistic and over the top at the same time. Even though it's obvious that she was the wrong choice in the romantic comedy love triangle, the character's personality is so established that she never becomes the embodiment of evil that most become in this genre.

The performances displayed by Cage and Perez didn't disappoint. Cage was his normal goofy self with a few explosions of over-acting, and Perez allowed her accent to exaggerate more than her character in "White Men Can't Jump." But the heart of the movie was Fonda's turn as a hard on her luck waitress who makes unfortunate choices. It's amazing that I always forget how pretty she was in the early 90s, and it wasn't supermodel looks, but wholesome girl next door beauty. When her and Cage are together, you root for them, and get mad when the lose the money; even though you knew it was coming. This is the hallmark of great character development.

While we aren't all as extreme to one side of this dilemma, there's a definitely a gray area that we can all agree exist. We wouldn't be as charitable as Charlie, but we also wouldn't be as greedy as Muriel, so the question is a much tougher one than the movie establishes. There are bills, wants, family, and a whole host of reasons why you would keep the money, but would you risk the regret you would feel if you reneged on a promise?

Personally, I would lean toward Charlie on this one because you could always invest some of the money and recoup what you split with the stranger. At least, I hope that's what I'd do, as would most of us. "It Could Happen to You" showcased the fairy tale version of the story, with Yvonne (Fonda) being Snow White, Charlie is Price Charming, and Muriel is the Evil Queen. For what it is, the movie is quite solid; nothing earth-shattering, but good. But more importantly...

What would you do?

Rating: 6.5/10 -- Cage and Perez give their usual stock performances, while the surprise additions of Bunk and Stanley Tucci, give the film some perfect comedic moments. Probably in the top echelon of rom-coms, but not transcended enough to be a classic on the "Harry Met Sally" level.

Day 40 -- Guarding Tess

Released: March 11th, 1994

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Shirley MacLaine

Writer/Director: Hugh Wilson and Peter Torokvei/Hugh Wilson

Description: A former First Lady of the US wants a particular Secret Service agent to head her bodyguard detail, even though he can't stand her.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
 

***

First off, thanks to everyone who voted in our first poll. There will be more in the future, so stay tuned.

Some movies are only remembered because certain actors star in them. There's not really much that stands out story-wise, or even performance-wise, but they still stick in the mind of audiences even years after their release. It's usually quite the achievement to make a movie, no matter what the quality, and have it find an audience. Albeit, a niche audience, but no matter what you're assured it will not be forgotten.

"Guarding Tess" at it's core is a comedy version of "Driving Miss Daisy", but it's enduring success is because of the work of Nick Cage. He plays ambitious Secret Service Agent Doug Chesnic, who despises the role of guarding former first lady Tess Carlisle, and dreams of a more glamorous assignment within the agency. But after his final day, his is notified that Mrs. Carlisle ask him to be kept on for another tour of duty. Doug refuses, but relents when the president asks him to do it as a personal favor.

From this point forward, the relationship between Doug and Tess dominates most of the movie, as Tess attempts to loosen him up, and he tries to stick to protocol. After a diner alone, the pair gain the trust of each other and begin to blossom into a mother-son relationship. This is where McLaine's old school acting shines through, as she doesn't attempt to show the change through anything dramatic, but rather, she keeps it subtle by using her mannerisms and tone of voice to convey her love for Doug.

The most important thing that many screenwriters should learn from this movie is that if you set a moral code and personality for a character, make them stand by it, unless something legitimate causes it to change. The device used in "Guarding Tess" is the final act when she gets kidnapped, which makes Doug change his thoughts on protocol because he has grown to care for Tess. So his shooting of the driver who turned on her, is much more justified because it was shown why he changed and why it was significant.

Outside of that solid piece of writing, the plot and story isn't all the special. The conflict between Doug and Tess is outstanding but the kidnapping was poorly thought out and executed. Unless I missed it, there was no indication as to why her driver would execute a plan to use her for ransom. A more believable storyline would have been her son doing it so that he could get the money for his retirement home project, whether that be through her life insurance or the ransom. But the driver was just an excuse to use the car lighter clue that made Doug seem competent in the CIA's mind.

"Guarding Tess" was truly a time when the actor's performances were much better than the material they were given. It was a rare movie where Cage allowed his character to slowly develop, and not gave him a unique quality, such as the Pokey voice in "Peggy Sue Got Married". The movie didn't affect me one way or the other, it's a fine move to watch, but it's not something I'd probably pay money to see. In the end, I cared more about the terrible drama in the final half-hour, then I did about how the story would turn out, and that is not what a filmmaker should be striving for in their movie.

Rating: 6/10 -- Average movie, with some good performances. Feels like a movie that could only be made in its time period. When you watch it you can tell it's from the early 90s, and is too slow for today's ADD movie going public.