Pig review

PIG:

NICOLAS CAGE GIVES ONE OF HIS BEST PERFORMANCES OF HIS ENTIRE CAREER IN THIS BEAUTIFUL ALBEIT SOMBER TALE ABOUT A MAN AND HIS PIG!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

NEON

Nicolas Cage in Pig

 

            Nicolas Cage (Raising Arizona, Face/Off, Bad Lieutenant) ventures into the mysterious land of Portland, Oregon in search for his stolen truffle pig in Pig. The film is directed by Michael Sarnoski in his directorial debut, and I have to say, I had no idea what I was getting into when I first saw the trailer for this movie prior to The Forever Purge. 

             All I knew about it was that Nicolas Cage played a man living in the wilderness with his pet truffle pig, but something happens to it and now he must get it back. I didn’t know what to expect out of it but given how insanely entertaining Cage can be as an actor (Both good and bad), it got my attention and made me very interested in seeing this film. 

            Well, after seeing it for myself I can gladly say that Pig completely surpassed my expectations as not only one of the best Nicolas Cage films I’ve seen in a long time, but one of his best films, period! It’s a film that showcases Cage’s skills as a dramatic actor while sprinkling in a little bit of his trademark craziness, but never to the point where it becomes self-parody like The Wicker Man or Ghost Rider. 

            The film follows a man named Rob (Cage), who has been living in the Oregon wilderness as a truffle hunter with his beloved pig. However, when his pig is stolen one night, he leaves his home in the woods and returns to Portland to find the person who stole it. 

            The film also stars Alex Wolff (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle/The Next Level, Hereditary, Old) as Amir, Adam Arkin (Lake Placid, Hitch, A Serious Man) as Darius, and Gretchen Corbett (The Rockford Files, Otherworld, Portlandia) as Mac. 

            Overall, Pig proves that even in the most mundane of situations (Looking for a stolen pig), Nicolas Cage will throw everything he can into it and deliver a damn amazing performance. However, you should come in with caution that if you’re expecting this to be the John Wick of pig movies where Cage is going on a killing spree to get his pig back, it’s not that kind of movie. 

            If anything, Pig is an anti-revenge movie that dives into how a person would realistically act during a situation like this while a subplot dives into the bitter world of culinary arts which I found very fascinating and not what I was expecting in this movie. I also appreciate how this film doesn’t talk down to the audience by narrating and explaining everything, sometimes all you need are a facial expression, a few words of dialogue, and maybe a visual or two and it’ll tell you everything you need to know without going heavy on exposition, the film often leaves many things up to the audience to make their own conclusions regarding certain scenes. 

            The film from start to finish is gorgeously shot especially for a first-time director, from the dark, brooding atmosphere of the Oregon forests to the almost otherworldly tone when Cage is in Portland. At times, the dark scenes in the woods can be a bit too hard to see, but I get that it’s trying to set an unsettling tone that is artsy but not to the point of being pretentious. 

            Let’s talk about the amazing force that is Nicolas Cage in this movie, he is f*cking phenomenal in this film and one of the best performances I had ever seen him in. While it isn’t one of his crazier performances (Though, there are a few crazy Nicolas Cage freak-outs, one of them in particular involves a bike!), he owns every scene he’s in and despite very few scenes with him and the pig together, you feel this strong connection between them which makes it all the more heartbreaking when the pig is eventually taken away from him, it makes you root for him on his journey to find his lost pig, this year I saw Godzilla teaming up with King Kong to battle Mechagodzilla and Black Widow reconnecting with her family, and yet I got more out of Nicolas Cage and this damn pig than any of these big blockbusters out right now. 

            Besides Cage, I also really liked this arc Alex Wolff’s character goes through, at first, he seems like this bitter jerk who’s only in it for the money, but as the film goes on, he develops a strong friendship with Nicolas Cage and has a redemption by the end.

            Pig showcases Nicolas Cage’s full capabilities as a dramatic actor and a return to form after several ups and downs throughout his career and shows Michael Sarnoski’s potential as one of the next great independent filmmakers. I’m looking forward to seeing what both Cage and Sarnoski do next, but in the meantime, this is mandatory viewing for any and all film enthusiasts, Nicolas Cage fans, and…truffle pig owners!