Nicolas Cage reveals which of his movies are the most underrated

Virgin Radio

6 Dec 2023, 16:39

Nicolas Cage has taken a look back at his extensive acting CV and revealed which projects he thinks are the most underrated.

The Hollywood star of new dark comedy Dream Scenario told Den of Geek which of his films he believes should have made more of an impact. In 2013's Texas-based movie Joe, he plays an ex-convict 'who crosses paths with a 15-year-old boy, abused by his alcoholic father, and decides to help him lead a respectful life'.

Cage recalled: “One is Joe, which David Gordon Green directed, and I thought [that] was a good example of that kind of 1970s performance style that we all got obsessed with back when we were watching pictures like Midnight Cowboy or Taxi Driver."

The Oscar-winner - who has recently talked about quitting acting - hoped it would be received like the New Hollywood movies of the 1970s. He explained: “[Those movies] became the arbiter for that which is considered to be good. I think, frankly, too many people have gotten obsessed with that 1970s naturalism style, but nonetheless I think that was it in full form in the movie Joe.”

Along with Gore Verbinski’s 2005 film, The Weather Man, the actor thinks 2008's Bangkok Dangerous should have received more praise. Again, Cage plays a man called Joe. The synopsis reads: "A hitman who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs violates his personal code when he falls for a local woman and bonds with his errand boy."

The remake of the Pang Brothers' 1999 film was heavily re-edited for U.S. audiences, which he feels took away a lot of its value. He said: “I recently saw [Michael Fassbender’s] The Killer, which I thought was very well crafted, but it was very nihilistic.

"It also made me think about a movie that I had made that was largely beaten up critically and didn’t really have any voice at all, and that was Bangkok Dangerous. And what I would say about Bangkok Dangerous is I’m playing a similar character, but what I liked… is that there’s a lot of heart there within this nihilistic world of being an assassin. He falls in love and I liked these emotions that start to grow. ”

Cage went on to say that he think critics 'marginalised it because it was considered a B-level action flick'. He urged: “If you can, get the Asian cut and not the American cut. I think there’s, perhaps, some enjoyment there to review.”

Cage previously admitted he took on some 'crummy' films in order to deal with some personal, financial issues in the past.

He explained: “I was over-invested in real estate. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time."