> Cage usually delivers a lousy performance in a lousy movie.
In the films you've named, Cage was decent in films directed
by five of the most skilled directors around, not the most
rousing endorsement.
But is that not the mark of a good performance -- being one element in a good/great film? There is no Platonic template for "great performance" hovering in the ether to which comparisons can be made. Lana Turner was an actress of limited gifts, but in IMITATION OF LIFE (for Sirk) and NO LIFE OF HER OWN (for Cukor), she gives great performances that are exactly what is called for with regrad to her director's mise en scene. Streep may rise above the dreck she is around (which to me means giving a performance of greater craft in comparison to the craft displayed by others involved in the film), but watching the result is a modest pleasure at best.
Rory writes:
> To these films I'd want to add, on the shlock side, FACE OFF by
John Woo, which manages to licence overacting from both Cage and Travolta
I almost included FACE OFF on the list, but have been ambivalent about Woo's work lately (though RED CLIFF seemed a fine return to form). But your notion supports the idea that a director uses an actor's performance as he would cinematography, editing, etc. Either she makes good use or bad use of an actor's abilities, and on that basis a judgment can be made as to whether a performance is good or bad. When ill-used, the most an actor can give is an interesting/uninteresting performance.
> Herzog's recent "remake" of Bad Lieutenant, where he allows Cage to channel
his inner Klaus Kinski.
I forgot that film and should have included it.
> Of course, this means that the argument that Cage's strongest films are those
in which he's working with a very good to great director is only further strengthened.
The same can be said for Cary Grant. His best performances are in films by Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Donen, Howard Hawks, George Cukor, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, George Stevens, and Leo McCarey. Fortunately, Grant had such directors to work with and sought them out. Whatever Cage's ability/lack of ability, he certainly does not have such a roster of directoral talent to choose from today.
Brian