Margaux and I near the end of Cage-mas with the forgettable Trespass.
Trevor: Trespass, for the most part, is a pretty rote thriller, to the point that I started wondering why it was made and who its intended audience was. Then I realized: it was made for people who love plot twists. There were so many of them! And so much yelling! I’ve seen better work by pretty much everyone involved, but the fact that there was going to be a plot twist every five minutes definitely helped keep my attention.
Margaux: It’s hard to argue that the plot twists help make this otherwise paint-by-numbers story interesting. But it’s a case of everything but the kitchen sink, if they had focused on the aspect of Cam Gigandet’s mental illness and delusions of grandeur being the cause for the robbery, that could’ve actually been a good movie! But it’s Joel Schumacher, so, what’d you expect? Everything NOT to explode at the end?
Trevor: I didn’t even realize it was Schumacher until I checked IMDb, so weirdly enough that’s what caused me to realize that he lacks any distinctive style. He’s just a so-so director who occasionally makes movies I actually like (such as Falling Down or Phantom of the Opera).
Margaux: It just so happens that this is the second time I’ve seen this movie. I know, brag. *hair flip*
But, as per usual, I have gotten ahead of myself. Let’s start with Nic Cage’s busy businessman, who is dressed like a stockbroker from the 80s, Kyle Miller.
Trevor: Count “Kyle” among the names that Cage can’t pull off, next to “Colin” and “Balthazar.” To be fair, I think Cage does a pretty good “lame dad,” a weird version of which he arguably did in Kick-Ass. I don’t think he can pull off fast-talking wheeler-dealer, though. On the whole this cast feels squandered, with the notable exception of one of Hollywood’ best-kept secrets. When I found out that Ben Mendelsohn was in this, it almost made up for Cam Gigandet being in this. Almost.
Margaux: Gigandet was largely unintentional comedic effect. His over the top reactions to it all going (obviously) very wrong were really funny, you’d just see him in the corner of the screen throwing up his hands in exasperation.
My biggest problem with the movie is that all its tension hinges on Cage’s defiance in refusing to open his safe. If we could’ve gotten to that sooner, the movie would’ve been less repetitive. And when things get repetitive, Cage just starts shouting random pieces of his lines. Also, his accent literally changes four different times, usually after he’s had his hand broken or been shot.
Trevor: And Nicole Kidman couldn’t hold on to her American accent for very long either. But she looked good in the red hair and glasses; she had kind of a sexy professor thing going on. And I thought Cage looked good in his Walter White glasses too. Honestly, and I’m going to keep banging this drum, I think Mendelsohn was the only one who showed up actually wanting to act. It’s like Ralph Fiennes in Clash of the Titans – yeah, it’s a bad movie but you don’t need to be bad in it.
Margaux: Good point, but it’s kind of hard to take anything seriously when Cage spend 50% of the movie wearing blue blockers INDOORS. And when gets his glasses violently knocked off and he’s groping around like it’s his first acting glasses and the only direction he’s received is “act sorta blind.” And don’t you know, Kidman is a very important architect lady who built this house so she doesn’t need to keep up her American accent, that’s what those glasses are for.
Is there a more obnoxious name for a shitty teenager than Avery? Cause let’s get into their shitty teenage kid, who really isn’t that shitty, but they are trying very hard for her be the subject of a generational thinkpiece.
Trevor: It’s almost as if the writers made Avery a decent character on accident. I kinda liked her; she was funny, feisty, and self-possessed. And she was willing to kill an annoying heroin addict in her car, which was nice. I was a little put off because Avery and her friend Kendra looked exactly alike, and they looked a little like Dana Brody from Homeland.
I’m not saying Avery Miller is a triumph of screenwriting, but I didn’t hate her. So do with that what you will.
Margaux: I agree with you, shockingly enough, it’s a Cage-Mas miracle! All I wished is that she actually did make it back to her “rich kid” party and robbed that little weirdo. It would’ve been fun if Mendelson tagged along instead of his girlfriend, I think Avery and Mendelson are the only ones who showed up in their scenes, and would’ve liked to see what they could do together.
But let’s talk about the crackhead (or was it meth?) because her turn…is something. I mean, the odds were in their favor that at least one of the four people who showed to rob the Millers was going to be on some Class A substance.
Trevor: Yeah, she was annoying as hell, and only served to round out an already bloated cast. Although I do appreciate anyone who shows up to a home invasion, spies a prom dress, and says YEP. That being said, I think Elias (Mendelsohn’s character) would have been equally as interesting, if not more so, if he just had to rob the Millers to pay back the mob…who actually robbed him…with his brother’s help. Jesus there are so many twists in Trespass. The “more is more” screenwriting style doesn’t help the film much.
Margaux: It’s perfectly fine to have twists, several of them if you’d like, over the course of your movie. But you run into problems when your audience struggles to keep them all in line. There are twists with Kyle – he’s not as rich as he pretends to be, but like, duh, no “rich” person is. There are twists with Kidman – whom you’re not entirely sure if she had an affair with Gigandet or he just installed cable or something. There are twists with Elias – mom needs a new liver? Surprise, I’m a just a scumbag who owes money to the mob. And finally, Gigandet – his need to “take a pill” and his mental issues suddenly come rushing forward and then the movie becomes about him and his obsession with Kidman. I think I got all that right.
Trevor: Sounds right to me. I’m okay with twists too, but that’s a lot for 90 minutes.
Margaux: And I didn’t even mention the mob appointed supervisor who was there too, and there is this whole subplot about a shot that’s as deadly as the lethal injection. Except, jokes on you, Trespass! Even the government can’t make the lethal cocktail anymore, so, SUCK ON THAT.
Trevor: There were some good parts to Trespass, though, namely Mendelsohn, Avery, and the crazy climax, where it turns out that Cage does have a ton of money, then he nails Gigandet’s foot to the floor while the building burns down. I hope that’s some kind of metaphor for Gigandet’s career; I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but he can’t act.
Margaux: “Hey, got something for you, you fucker (re: nail gun that is now plugged in)” – Nic Cage as Kyle Miller, that sounds like something a Kyle Miller would say.
But Cam Gigandet is a nice guy! I met him once for some work thing and he was lovely, and as soon as he walked away, I thought to myself, “sucks that I hate every movie you’ve ever been in, which is mainly just the Twilight series”.
I think this movie might’ve worked better if Cage was in Gigandet’s role; at the very least, it’d be a lot funnier and less sincere.
Trevor: Apparently they had to stop filming for a day because Cage insisted (after day one) that he wanted to switch roles and play Mendelsohn’s character. He finds a way to be a lunatic even in movies like this.
Margaux: Maybe after watching 10 Nic Cage movies, I know him better than I know myself because OF COURSE. Of course he tried to switch roles, he’s definitely more of an Elias than a Kyle. Just like he’s definitely a Samantha and not a Carrie, when it comes to Sex and The City characters.
Next up: Guarding Tess
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