Nicolas Cage at his best: Way out there onscreen
He’s got an Oscar and was one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1990s. What we love most about Nicolas Cage, though, is when he goes “full Cage” — which means completely and wonderfully bonkers.
Two of his newest projects are in line with his signature niche of out-there roles. In the supremely dark horror comedy Mom and Dad (playing now in select cities including New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Chicago, on-demand and digital platforms such as iTunes), Cage and Selma Blair star as parents trying to kill their kids when a mysterious 24-hour wave of hysteria hits the suburbs. Also, his action thriller Mandy premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival, featuring Cage as a man hunting the religious sect that murdered the love of his life.
Now let’s get in the cage with Cage: Here are the actor’s craziest performances, ranked.
10 Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
His character in the retro time-travel comedy is actually called “Crazy Charlie,” so that tells you a lot. Plus, he sings and talks in a weird and nasally high voice, which makes a hot-and-heavy car scene with Kathleen Turner that much stranger.
9 Adaptation (2002)
Double the Cage, double the fun in screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s drama about adapting Susan Orlean’s The Or
chid Thief. Cage plays the depressed Charlie and annoying twin brother Donald in an extremely odd film that has its emotional touches, too.
8 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
Cage’s second go-round as the flaming-skull superhero lets the actor unleash a lot of rage as he transforms into a vigilante phantom.
7 Raising Arizona (1987)
With wild hair and impressive mutton chops, Cage’s baby-robbing oddball is just one of many goofy aspects of the Coen brothers’ crime comedy. Cage steals the show in quite a few scenes, including one involving cops, dogs and high jinks in an epic diaper heist.
6 Deadfall (1993)
His brother Christopher Coppola’s crime drama is a movie so terrible that it has a zero Rotten Tomatoes score. Yet it’s worth watching for Cage’s con man and a coked-up meltdown involving four-letter words and mattress humping.
5 Wild at Heart (1990)
Twin Peaks guru David Lynch is responsible for this piece of Southernfried pulp, with Cage and Laura Dern as a pair of reckless youngsters on the run. All you need to know: Cage’s Elvis-styled Sailor Ripley beats a guy to death — in the first scene.
4 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Cage’s drug-addicted cop in post-Katrina N’awlins makes time to wonder if fish dream and gets so high off a crack pipe he sees a soul breakdance.
3 The Wicker Man (2006)
This horror redo features the Cage-y one playing a cop investigating a pagan cult community. Ever wanted to see him don a bear suit and punch a lady? There’s that scene, or the infamous one where he screams, “Not the bees!” as he’s mauled by stinging pests.
2 Vampire’s Kiss (1989)
The dark comedy is an exercise in madness as Cage’s yuppie literary agent is bitten by a vampire and becomes convinced he’s about to turn into one himself. When it doesn’t happen, he dons plastic Dracula teeth and runs through the streets screaming, “I’m a vampire!”
1 Face/ Off (1997)
As Castor Troy, Cage dresses like a priest, dances flamboyantly and sings the Hallelujah chorus (from Handel’s
Messiah) all before the opening credits finish. The no-guilt, all-pleasure action flick with switching faces and identities lets him go all-in with kooky glory.