The Trust

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

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.

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.

Nicolas Cage can never be doubted. He may make bad movies & might keep making them, but when this guy decides to get into a character, there's NO Stopping him. In 'The Trust', Cage delivers a terrific performance & overpowers this mediocre film with his sheer madness.

'The Trust' Synopsis: A pair of cops investigating a drug invasion stumble upon a mysterious bank vault.

'The Trust' is interesting in parts, but the film needed to be sharper. Its wicked fun to see the cops doing something illegal & then turn violent, but Writer-Director Duo Ben Brewer & Adam Hirsch never allow them to soar. The Screenplay is unevenly written & arrests in limited does. Their Direction, however, is nicely done.

So its upto Cage & Elijah Wood to make things work. Cage is firebrand, enacting the manipulative & unpredictable cop with enviable madness. Wood, an underrated talent, stands on his own, even though Cage is in merciless scene-stealing mode here.

On the whole, 'The Trust' isn't as good as it could've been, but Cage keeps the proceedings alive with his act. Screw his critics, this man is still a bad-ass!