Nicolas Cage has appeared in more than 100 films over the past 40 years. You could argue that he was miscast in at least 75% of them. But that is the fun of watching Nic in movies—even bad ones. Nobody, for better or worse, can put his unique spin on whatever character he’s playing at the moment.
Which brings us to his latest, a Western that could have been made by an Artificial Intelligence program by simply entering in a few key words.
And yet…I kinda dug it.
In The Old Way, Nic plays a mean dude, a gunslinger who speaks softly and carries a big gun. We see him shoot a man in the first few minutes – killing the guy in front of his young son.
Cut to twenty years late. Nic has a beautiful wife and daughter and is the proprietor of a small town General Store. He quietly sells sacks of flour and you can buy jelly beans from the counter. His family are unaware, apparently, of his sordid past.
And you know exactly what will happen next – either bad guys will hunt him down for revenge or good guys will hunt him down for justice. A climactic showdown will happen in the final act.
Yes- that is the template for hundreds of Westerns over decades. But I kinda just went with it. The gorgeous scenery, the seasoned character actors (including the great Clint Howard in a beard and cap that make him virtually unrecognizable.)
The funny thing is – Nic doesn’t do any herky-jerky, weirdly shouting Cage-isms. He plays it straight down the middle; the quiet man with a past who only wants a peaceful future with his family.
Of course, he couldn’t resist wearing a silly cowboy hat that makes him look like an 8 year old in the 1950s playing Cowboys and Indians.
But that’s Nice Cage.
The Old Way | Only In Theaters January 6, 2023 | On Premium Video on Demand and Premium Digital January 13, 2023
From The Archives: Kyle Osborne with Nicolas Cage