Margaux and I bid farewell to Cage-mas and discuss the profoundly strange Army of One.
Trevor: Even though Army of One flew way under the radar (I think it was on DVD two weeks after it hit theaters), I think this might prove to be one of Nicolas Cage’s more polarizing films, for a simple reason: the utterly wackadoo way he portrays Gary Faulkner. The mannerisms, the beard, the hair, and especially the voice could, I imagine, turn a lot of people off. As you probably already guessed, I really liked him in this. It’s the rare confluence of a serious Cage performance and a crazy Cage performance, because even though the way he plays Gary is nuts, he’s still acting. He can wring a lot of intensity and emotion out of that weird nasally voice. Some other actors can’t even hold onto their accents. How’d you like it?
Margaux: When we first agreed to watch Army of One, I sort of hand-waved it through because it was co-signed (and co-stars) Paul Scheer. Until last night, for some reason, I had it in my head it’d be in the vein of Outcast or Left Behind, probably because of the name, so I was a little taken aback when I learned Larry Charles (of Seinfeld, Curb, and Borat fame) directed this one. Also that it also co-starred Russell Brand as God, which immediately set my eyeballs rolling to the back of my head. All that being said, I found Cage to be extremely funny, Gary Faulkner is exactly the role he was born to play. The story itself is fairly disjointed and didn’t really quite come together, the dueling voiceovers didn’t help matters, but I legit laughed out loud a lot. Army of One works best when Cage is allowed to walk around and basically riff as Gary.
Trevor: I feel the exact same way. The movie is definitely disjointed, and is more of a series of vignettes, which actually worked for me. We know how Gary’s story ends (spoiler alert: he doesn’t caputre bin Laden), so it was more of a character study.
As for Brand, his presence here is absolutely stunt casting, but I…kinda liked it? I mean, imagine how smug Ricky Gervais would have been in the role. He would have played it the same way Alec Baldwin plays Donald Trump on SNL. But I think the supporting cast as a whole was pretty great – I mean, Wendi McLendon-Covey was terrific in this. She could have matched Cage’s craziness, but chose to portray Marci as grounded and realistic, and I thought the two of them had really nice chemistry.
Margaux: Although I didn’t fully buy their relationship, it felt so abrupt and unnatural, especially when Marci just dumps her purse out on Gary when they run into each at Home Depot after not seeing or speaking to each other in, oh let’s just call it fifteen years. It rubbed me the wrong way the way most clumsy comedies that attempt to shoehorn in a love story for the laaaaadies usually do. But Wendi McLendon-Covey does a lot with the little she is given, her and Cage are a surprisingly good match, despite the fact that any woman wouldn’t be that onboard for an unemployed dude like that.
Trevor: 100% agreed, it moved way too fast. Didn’t work for me at the beginning either.
Margaux: It is hard for me to stay mad at a movie that stabs Will Sasso in the first ten minutes though.
Trevor: That was one of those scenes where I saw the punchline coming from a mile away and still laughed my ass off.
One thing I liked about Army of One is that while people commented about the insanity of Gary’s plan, they never tried to stop him. And no one ever noticed him having his chats with God. The ease with which he formulated his plan, the (sometimes grudging) support he got from his friends, and the sheer audacity of it wouldn’t work in a fictional movie. But Army of One is definitely one of those “stranger than fiction” pieces.
Margaux: Genuinely feel that if Nic Cage didn’t become a famous actor, he’d be Gary Faulkner.
He had a lot of really great one-liners (“You’d be surprised how much you’ll save if you don’t pay your bills and live on job sites”), and I liked that they allowed his eccentricities to be played for laughs that were not us just laughing at him, but with him. Because for all his disillusions in life, Gary was surprisingly self-aware. Even a little meta, “don’t you think I look like Nic Cage in Con Air?”Can’t say I hated his bushy beard either.
Trevor: The character definitely let the writers inject non sequiturs which Cage clearly enjoyed, such as Gary’s obsession with chicken wings, and his insistence that more people kick ass in America than they do anywhere else. Honestly, the performance was so weirdly captivating that I would have loved it even in a boring, stupid movie. And you’re right about the similarities between Cage and the character, and now I’m imagining a world where Cage goes to Pakistan to get bin Laden. Which really isn’t that far-fetched.
This is as good a segue as ever, I guess, but why does it take so long for him finally get to Pakistan? Sure, it was vaguely funny that he thought he could sail there and sustain himself on barnacles, like he’s Charlie Day in “The Gang Buys a Boat”, but by his third failed attempt, it started to test my patience because there are only so many times you want to sit through the same conversation of, “I’m going to Pakistan!” I did love the scenes involving the hang glider though, from the violent dismissal of Tom Petty as not patriotic enough to be inspiring, to him throwing himself off a mountain in Israel.
Trevor: I loved that shot of the hang glider – replete with the boombox that he was told would upset the weight – and I love that Gary Faulkner really did try to hang glide from Israel to Pakistan with a samurai sword. This is such an interesting story, one almost tailor-made for the documentary format, so I really appreciate that someone looked at the story and thought “Weird pseudo-slapstick with Nic Cage doing a goofy voice.”
Margaux: You just hit the nail on the head. I think a lot of the fragmented storytelling happens because it’s story almost made to be turned into a mockumentary, a format Charles has become somewhat known for, but is just scripted enough for it not to gel. It was trying to have it both ways, but didn’t land either. Like, why are we introduced to Rainn Wilson and Denis O’Hare’s characters so late? The intersection of their separate motives could’ve driven the somewhat aimless second act. Plus, their little undercover/which-James-Bond-is-best argument is totally improved and also one of the funnier moments in the whole film.
Trevor: I really liked them too, and would have loved to have seen more of them (this is one of my favorite roles for Rainn Wilson, who typically annoys me). As it is, Army of One lets Gary exist in his own little world, where he can take a break from terrorist hunting to help someone sell goat meat, but I think it’d have been better if we saw more of how his mission collided with that of actual intelligence operatives on the ground.
Margaux: If they played it like that, the sequel to Army of One could see Gary fighting ISIS; it honestly has all the trapping of the next generation of Ernest Goes To…movies. Gary Takes On…I.J.S., I’m just saying.
Trevor: Add “Gary Faulkner series” to the list of Cage movies we’re dying to see now (I still really want to see him play a Little League coach).
So now that we’re at the end of Cage-mas, what did you like best? Least? I know personally, I am no closer to understanding him as an actor or a person, but I appreciate the hell out of this man.
Margaux: Definitely a newfound level of respect and appreciation for Cage’s dedication and fearlessness. He really brought it to every movie we watched, but the success of his performance is very much dependent on the director’s capability to bring out the best parts and edit out the rest. I’d say The Runner was the movie I liked the least, it was too subdued. I’ve found a new favorite classic Cage film in Snake Eyes, and Face/Off remains his most entertaining movie to date. The Trust and Army of One were interesting modern Cage movies that showed us he hasn’t lost his touch; Moonstruck and Raising Arizona reinforced that he has it in him to turn in critically positive performances, but either no longer chooses to star in those movies or the powers that be decided that for him.
In short, would I watch another 12 Cage movies? Probably not. But was it a hell of a lot of fun and oddly surprisingly and a little enlightening? Fuck yeah. Or should I say, COCAINE MY ASS.
About Author
