The Trust: Big Trouble in Sin City

I like this movie. It was smart, fun and kinda strange. But I like it. The best movie with Nicolas Cage in years.

I think a lot of people don't get what is happening. If you think about what happened in the movie, it will all fall into place. This movie will be underrated by many. I think I got it. This is a thinker.

I would recommend this to people who are a little tired of the same old super-hero movie type and who are looking for a movie that you will have on your mind for a while. A nice surprise from Nicolas Cage and Elija Wood.

8/10 for me on this movie

As far as low-budget, small scale 2010s Nic Cage movies go, this was surprisingly solid.

It's the kind of heist movie you've probably seen a bunch of times before, but Elijah Wood and Nic Cage make for a good duo that elevate the material. Cage's character is wildly unpredictable and hard to read, but it works in the film's favour, as otherwise I think this would 100% drag during its sort of underwhelming second half.

But there's a shot near the end in a car that's really cool? So it's not like it fizzles out completely. And overall, I'm really just thankful this was a decent time and more than watchable, because as much as I love Cage, some of his other 2010s movies are tough to get through.

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.

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.

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.