The Trust: Big Trouble in Sin City

Nicolas Cage is both the butt of movie jokes and a respectable multirole meme, since he's played everything from cult films to shitty flicks (including ridiculous evangelist ones). Lately, he's been very good in stuff like "Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans" (2009) and "Joe" (2014) which was a great modern example of cinéma vérité. In this wonky production, his smarmy opportunist character is even likable, but unsuccessfully flanked by Wood's reluctant partner in crime; while the small-time heist scheme is enjoyable, the succession of events turns out as anti-climactic and disappointing, without much fun or any sort of accomplishment. There's a lack of a third party and a good female lead, besides a heavier dose of irony. The Jerry Lewis cameo was a random surprise, but good for him: I thought he was dead.

I don't know why the idea of Nicholas Cage and Elijah Wood starring in a crime thriller together is funny to me, but it is. & for its first half, THE TRUST is funny. But what starts out as a silly neo-noir veers suddenly toward a darker realm as Cage's goofy Las Vegas police officer (echoes of his BAD LIEUTENANT role, but only echoes) reveals his cold-blooded determination to get at the contents of a secret vault at all costs, causing a rift to occur between him & Wood's softer character.

THE TRUST is a heist movie, & it's when the heist begins that the movie really starts to shine. It takes the heist in creative, unexpected & funny directions, & during these parts is an enjoyable & engrossing film. The film wraps up way too suddenly, & overall is quite forgettable, but for a good chunk in the middle it had a certain spark while these two ridiculous men dug themselves deeper into the hole they never wholly grasped they were getting themselves into in the first place. Cage is fun to watch, & though more restrained than usual, his wild energy crackles from him like static off a bedsheet. The dialogue & handling of situations is nicely offbeat, & the script remains ontrack the whole way.

THE TRUST is worth a watch if you like neo-noirs, heist movies, or Nick Cage doing his goofy thing. Or, like me, all of the above.

I saw the trailer for 'The Trust' a few weeks ago and I thought it looked interesting since I'm a fan of Nicolas Cage. He had a lot of bad movies recently but also a few good under-looked movies (Joe, Frozen Ground, Drive Angry). It's fair to say that 'The Trust' is a good entry in Nicolas Cage's volatile filmography.

The ending might be the weak point of the film, maybe don't go in with too much expectations, but Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood were really surprising. They had a couple of funny moments together, and they were definitely carrying this movie.

I love a movie with a cool soundtrack, and I thought the directors (Alex & Benjamin Brewer) did a nice job setting the tone for this Las Vegas caper movie with great music and funny scenes. Elijah Wood is playing a stoner cop and I thought it was a good role for him. The acting was really on point the entire movie.

The Bobo scene was hilarious, and the whole 'heist' takes different twists and turns.

Even though the first hour is the best part and it falls short in the last 30 minutes, I recommend giving 'The Trust' a try if you like crime/comedy movies, or if you're a fan of Nicolas Cage.

7.5/10

Another deep dive into Netflix has yielded a surprising little gem that starts lighter and funnier than I expected, before sliding into a mess of lies and death. Cage and Wood have great chemistry, bolstered by the sharp patter in the script. It's a steady snowball of tragedy whose plot isn't quite shocking but has plenty of unexpected turns around each corner.

Cage has been on a dry run for the past few years. Not only has he been starring in mediocre-bad movies, but he hasn't had a chance to be as fun and eccentric as we know he can be. It's like he's been on downers for a while, and now with The Trust, he finally got off those meds. This is the Nicolas Cage we love - silly, unpredictable, and hilarious. His antics aren't overbearing either thanks to co-lead Elijah Wood, who is the stoner counterpart to Cage and loosely serves as the voice of reason. The plot of The Trust is that Cage and Wood are cops who couldn't care less about their jobs and wind up stumbling across a drug operation that leads them to a secret vault. Then they decide to rob the place.

It starts off as an off-beat comedy. Cage and Wood share a brilliant rapport making it easy to gloss over the film's shortcomings. Then in the third act things become strangely dark and the fun lackadaisical tone drifts away. But until then, The Trust is a pleasant surprise with more depth than you'd think. The film is loaded with issues - the clunky narrative and inconsistent tone - but for Cage fans who are jonesing for a fix, The Trust will surely fill that void and at the very least provide a few good laughs.