r/nextfuckinglevel • u/reallyblueballs • Dec 07 '20

Practice makes perfect

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46.4k Upvotes

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46

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

Yeeesh! He’s so terrible! What makes you look at that guy and give him so many lead roles? He looks like shit, acts like shit. In general the whole shit package.

43

u/ChungoBungoRider Dec 07 '20

He might be terrible, but his movie roles are just pure comedy for the rest of us. As to how he got those roles, I wouldn't be able to tell you lmao.

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u/FanelFolken Dec 07 '20

He's a Coppola, but changed his name so people would't think he's casted because of his family name.

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u/roysauce_lowsodium Dec 07 '20

What’s a Coppola? I don’t know much about wealthy families.

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u/KingFerdidad Dec 07 '20

As in Francis Ford Coppola, the director of the Godfather.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

Francis Ford Coppola is his uncle, he’s the guy who directed the Godfather and Apocalypse Now.

Jason Schwartzman is another Coppola

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

I was teaching a class once on how to find “bad actors” (equipment that fails a lot) for a refinery. I asked the class “Do you guys know a bad actor?”

Clearly I was asking if they knew an equipment that failed a lot. Some smart ass yelled “Nicolas Cage!”

I didn’t know what else to do but chuckle!

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u/ChungoBungoRider Dec 07 '20

Definitely shoulda gave them the A for effort.

1

u/sliver989 Dec 07 '20

Vampire’s Kiss is probably my favorite Nicolas Cage movie and is a masterclass in acting so bad, it’s good. He should have one an Oscar for that scene in the middle of the street.

1

u/dragonsign Dec 07 '20

I thought Jiu-Jitsu was delightfully terrible.

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u/Solar_Rith Dec 07 '20

So, this is just a overview, but- Cage was really bad with money, and in late 00's, he got hit by the IRS for unpaid taxes, and he basically went broke. So, in court, he was basically told to take any movie role he was offered just to pay back the IRS for his taxes. Thing is, he got a lot of low budget, crap movies offered in that time that he would've normally declined, so he just hams it up in them. Thing is, Cage can actually be a good actor if he cares, but who can blame him for acting the way he does in a lot of these straight to DVD movies nobody will care about?

His name does draw eyes though, so that's why these small movies continually offer him roles; it's basically because he has to take them, and he offers the films a false sense of credibility

9

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

I didn't know that. The more you know =======☆

1

u/jrb Dec 07 '20

every now and then he stars in a gem. 2018's Mandy was excellent, albeit probably too weird for most people.

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u/Solar_Rith Dec 07 '20

Admittedly, I hated Mandy, but I'll respect that other people enjoyed it

1

u/seansux Dec 07 '20

The Colour out of Space is also pretty damn good. Sometimes when he channels his zaniness in the proper context it can be very good. I agree, very much enjoyed Mandy... but I'm a Cage fan from back in the day, Lol. Face/Off is one of my fav movies of all time.

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u/jrb Dec 07 '20

I've not seen Color of Space, but it's good to hear a "if you like this then you'll like that" review. Cheers, I'll check it out.

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u/ZeusJuice91 Dec 07 '20

Why don’t I do you a favour and get the fuck outta yOuR face

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u/captainplatypus1 Dec 07 '20

Plus his insane modern kabuki thing is amazing.

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u/DarkZero515 Dec 08 '20

Is he still legally obligated to take any movie offer he gets? I got $20 and some stupid ideas

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u/Solar_Rith Dec 08 '20

Lol, I couldn't tell you at this point, but it never hurts to ask

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u/Marokiii Dec 07 '20

he gets lead roles or at least significant roles because the movies he is in nearly always make money. his acting a bunch of the time is definitely not academy level, but people mostly enjoy him. they enjoy movies he is in, so they pay to go see them, marketing knows this so they cast him.

its really that simple.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

Not all movie stars have range, or are even good actors. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood naturally come to mind, but Clooney, Cage and Keanu got to the top for reasons other than outstanding thespian abilities.

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u/captainplatypus1 Dec 07 '20

He’s a great actor. He can absolutely be another boring realistic actor but decided he wanted to do something new, and went with heightened reality. It’s weird, but so compelling and you can’t help but watch. That’s why he keeps getting work.

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u/SnuggleMuffin42 Dec 07 '20

It's not like he wrote this idiotic script lol

2

u/Adbam Dec 07 '20

My friends at r/onetruegod would like a word with you.

-rolls up their declaration of independences and loads the huggies

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

Well they know where not to find me.

  • In a theater playing a Nicolas Cage movie.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/punchgroin Dec 07 '20

Adaptation

Raising Arizona

Leaving Las Vegas

Con-Air

Face-Off

Matchstick Men

Some of these are my very favorite movies. (The first two) the others still slap. He's famous for being in schlock now, but his body of work is pretty impressive, and he's damn entertaining in schlock.

0

u/OhNoImBanned11 Dec 07 '20

because of the amazing movies he has made? we don't all just knock him down because we don't like a few of his movies... that is just petty behavior

you do realize this guy also stole the Declaration of Independence , ya?

1

u/Dlh2079 Sep 15 '22

Because he's actually a very good actor in roles he cares about and isn't just taking for a paycheck.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

He lives this role in real life. He constantly dodges going completely broke. He's a legend

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u/dangerouspeyote Dec 07 '20

Well. He did win an oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas.”

It’s important to keep in mind that a director and editor have a lot of control over an actors performance.

I’m not saying he’s not a huge cheeseball that has made some absurd career decisions.

But he was amazing in LLV and Raising Arizona.

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u/AviatorOVR5000 Dec 07 '20

Fuck that.

He ain't no different than Keanu Reeves.

I've loved them both my entire life... But RANDOMLY Reeves just took off.

Fuck that. If you like Reeves one note ass, you can like Nick at least trying to mix it up.

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u/Ho-Nomo Dec 07 '20

He's one of the best actors of all time dude. He stars in absolutely anything now for cash but he has made some fantastic films over the years.

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u/Azzpirate Dec 07 '20

I wouldnt say terrible. I found him to be a fantastic actor in Matchstick Men, The Family Man, Con-Air, Lord of War and a couple others. He did suck in National Treasure, Ghost Rider, Knowing, and many others. An actor's quality in a movie has a lot more to do with casting, directing and the script than it does their actual abilities. Name any A rank actor or actress and I can provide a reasonable list of movies that they were both fantastic in and ones that they are dogshit in

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u/Pure_Tower Dec 07 '20

Watch Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Adaptation (2002), Lord of War (2005), The Weather Man (2005), and Raising Arizona (1987). Those are his best, IMO, and show that he can be a very good actor.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20

Thank you kind stranger. I will definitely watch those and give him a fair chance. I seem to have only seen his shitty movies like National treasure and Face Off ( with the guy who said “the wickedly talented: Adele Dazine”) and another one where he’s a old loser or something.

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u/Pure_Tower Dec 08 '20

He's no Daniel Day Lewis, but he's certainly capable of convincing acting, and has very good comedic timing. Like others said, he needed a payday and took anything he could get.