Nicolas Cage has become an absolute joke among the film community. Taking whatever project comes his way, no matter how inane, his filmography is as inconsistent a it is massive; sitting right next to praised roles in Kick-Ass and Bad Lieutenant are the likes of Ghost Rider, Bangkok Dangerous and, worst of all, The Wicker Man. The reason for all this is that Cage cant afford to stop working. Due to tax issues (that well not go into because weve learnt from George Lucas people arent into that) Cage has large amounts of debt that only taking every project offered (and selling his prized possessions, like a copy of Action Comics #1) has any hope of abating. All of which makes it incredibly shocking that some of his most derided projects he actually thought were going to be good (and not just top up the coffers). The Wicker Man, a film now treated by many as a comedy, was one of those, with Cage seemingly deluded to its faults in interviews. We could summarise what he said, but it wouldn't compare to actually seeing what he said:
Its gothic, its scary, it enabled me to work in the horror genre in a way that didnt rely on pop-ups and the cheap thrills, blood and guts that so many of these horror films do. It was about performance and making it real.
Hes since claimed he and director Neil LaBute were well aware that the film is flat out ridiculous, which sounds more than a little revisionist if you ask us; the film is ninety minutes of tedium on top of the five minutes of unintentional hilarity everyone knows. Which other actors were oblivious to their terrible movies? Let us know in the comments below.
