Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we have a Nicolas Cage vehicle from earlier this year leading the charge in The Surfer. It’s a release with a bit of extra significance because it also features Julian McMahon, who we just lost. This week also features The Actor hitting shelves, as well as a new Criterion Collection box set. Read on for more.
Joey’s Top Pick
The Surfer
Watching Cage go up against McMahon as the former loses his mind is the chief pleasure in The Surfer. This psychological thriller has a lot on its mind, not all of which works, but both men are quite compelling. Cage especially is bringing his brand of insanity to the proceedings. It’s not for everyone, but will scratch a certain kind of cinematic itch, that’s for sure. This here is some of what I said about Cage and McMahon in my review:
Give Nicolas Cage even a little bit to chew on and he’ll make a meal out of it. We’ve known this for years now, and yet, it still is just as enjoyable to bear witness to. The films vary in terms of quality, to be sure, but when Cage goes for it, he goes for it. The Surfer is yet another example of this, with the movie also attempting to offer up a bit more than just a Cage psychological thriller. It’s not always successful, admittedly, but there’s enough here, led by Cage, to warrant a recommendation.
The Surfer is at its best when it just lets Cage cook. The more it tries to play around with your bearings and sense of time, the wobblier it gets. However, when Cage is just acting his ass off, slowly but surely breaking down, there’s more than enough to grab on to. Is it one for the ages? No. Is it a movie worth seeing? Yes it is.
Nicolas Cage gets to exhibit some control over his manic side here, while still getting to go pretty wild. It’s a consistently compelling performance from Cage, showcasing a lot of his best skills as an actor. You’re in his corner throughout, even when you want him to give up the ghost, and that’s a credit to his ability to get you on his side, regardless of the behavior at hand. Julian McMahon is the best of the supporting players, mixing charisma and intensity
Also Available This Week
The Actor (Interview with filmmaker Duke Johnson here and stars André Holland and Gemma Chan here)
Frailty (4K)
Fury (4K)
Manifest: The Complete Series (TV)
Shane (4K)
Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Cracking Collection (4K)
Criterion Corner
The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
From The Criterion Collection: “The release of François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows in 1959 shook world cinema to its foundations. The now-classic portrait of troubled adolescence introduced a major new director in the cinematic landscape and was an inaugural gesture of the revolutionary French New Wave. But The 400 Blows not only introduced the world to Truffaut—it also unveiled his most indelible creation, Antoine Doinel. Initially patterned closely after Truffaut himself, the Doinel character (played by the irrepressible and iconic Jean-Pierre Léaud) reappeared in four subsequent films that knowingly portrayed his myriad frustrations and romantic entanglements, from his stormy teens through marriage, children, divorce, and adulthood. This box set presents Truffaut’s celebrated saga in its entirety: the feature films The 400 Blows, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run, and the short subject Antoine and Colette.“
Stay tuned for more next week…
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