Nicholas Cage is so good at playing total whack jobs
that it takes a bit of time to get used to him playing a ‘normal’ guy. The
wait, though, more time than not is usually worth it. In this new thriller,
directed by Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job), Cage plays Will Gerard, a high
school English professor whose life is turned inside out when his wife is
brutally attacked. Waiting in the hospital to see if she will live, Will is
approached by a mysterious stranger (Guy Pearce) who offers to ‘take care’ of
the guy who attacked his wife. All he asks in return is a favor to be done at
some future date. Angry, distraught and feeling helpless, Will agrees and sets
in motion a complicated plot that often threatens to, but never quite goes off
the rails. The key to making it real is Cage’s carefully controlled performance
and the way his playing ‘normal’ allows Pearce to chew the scenery in a most
delightful way.
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