Sonny

Sonny, the son of a New Orleans whore, returns home from the army determined to start a new life far away from prostitution. He finds that, even in 'live and let live' New Orleans, one's past is hard to escape.

The characters in this film are disturbing, volitile and manipulative. Other times they are sensitive, caring and fragile. Even Cage's over the top portrayal of a pimp, left me with the feeling that people such as this existed in the early 80's sex industry. The film captured excellent and emotional performances by James Franco, Brenda Blethyn, Harry Dean Stanton and Mena Suvari. Nicholas Cage, in his directorial debut, brings to life a script that fits well with his 'outside the box' body of work. The unusual sound track relied heavily on Bach and Beethoven with Devo and Wall of Voodoo mixed in.

Sonny was shown to a US audience for the first time at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia. A superb Roger Ebert interview of Mr. Cage followed. During the interview, we learned that the film went into production 3 weeks after Mr.Cage decided to produce and direct the project. It was shot primarily in a French Quarter building that Mr. Cage happened upon, purchased and now does not know what to do with. Filming lasted 6 weeks. Even if you consider the fact that Nicholas Cage first read the script many years ago, intending to play the part of Sonny, it is unbelievable that this film went from 'green light' to 'in the can' in 9 weeks.

I had the wonderful opportunity to see the debut of Sonny at the Virginia Film Festival on 26 October 2002. This is a gritty and raw portrayal of a young man's attempts to change his fate. Mr. Cage has made a daring film about the difficult life of a male hustler.

This is a film that spares nothing and finds us rooting for each character's redemption. This is not to be missed.

Am baffled at the low ratings and poor reviews this film has gotten. Would this still have been the case if Nick Cage were not an A-List actor? I thought this film to be a phenomenal character piece that kept me gripped until the very end. James Franco once again shows his chops as one of the best actors of his generation. Perhaps the film was a little too real for many to take and showed a life of prositution that was not through Hollywood goggles (ie Pretty Woman). With the exception of Scott Caan, all the performances were stellar and the movie was a phenomenal debut for any first time director. I hope that you haters out there do not sway Mr. Cage away from his position behind the lens.

I really enjoyed the slightly unusual dimension brought to the film by Nicholas Cages's direction, showing the same characteristics as many of the films in which he has a leading role. The role of Yellow acid was a bit over the top but the other roles all believable and well acted. The much worked cliché of being drawn back into a rut was kept interesting by the unlikely paradox that a good looking and sexually adapt male could struggle to impress in normal situations simply because of the stigma and baggage of his previous occupation. James Franco was an excellent choice as Sonny portraying the on the surface shy but extremely confident individual with great believability.

I guess it's hard to address serious issues when you're dealing with a plot about a flamboyant southern belle who raises her son to be a natural-born-whore, because this movie is considered to be a failure even though it really isn't. It's neither the ready-made slice-of-life that Sundance specializes in, nor is it an innovative film like "Pi," so casual independent fans have little reason to like this (they probably dislike Paul Morrissey, too). So there's already a few misconceptions about the film, but add to that that it's an actor's film: what else are we supposed to expect from Nicolas Cage? The movie is a mix of piano music and prostitution, and it's just like Cage's acting -- hyper-real and over-the-top, classy and trashy at once.

The movie is partially a series of differing acting styles -- Blethyn's comic exaggeration, Franco's sleepy mysteriousness, Stanton's quiet control, Cage's funhouse tricks. But I think Cage deserves a certain amount of credit -- he doesn't scuzzify the material or romanticize it; he creates some interesting scenes (and handles most of the more potentially offensive ones with as close to grace as possible); he indulges all of his actors. And there is some real pain in the story, about not being able to switch jobs, and how vagabonds have nothing to show for their life. There are times when this goes where few films do in terms of honesty, yet the script does have increasing problems as it goes along. A scene like the one where Cage makes his appearance, seen through Sonny's drunken haze, works only because of the oddness of it; it feels stolen from other films because it's supposed to be there for the type of movie this is. But the film is at its best when it resists any "type." 8/10