Io, Dio e Bin Laden

There's Hollywood action star Nic Cage. There's multifaceted, serious actor Nic Cage. And then there's wacky, experimental Nic Cage.

Nic Cage goes back to his roots in smaller quirky comedies and explodes off the screen in every scene. He's in almost every scene and, while the script is mediocre, Cage elevates what would've been a forgettable C-movie into a fun and funny B-movie. This is proof that Cage is better than ever and capable of A+ material. Hope this is a sign of a comeback.

Its no Raising Arizona or Vampire's Kiss, but its good fluff. I think it was directed well enough but the script was too bare and the editing was a little sloppy. Cage has the most meat with his role and none of the other performers have much to do but react to him, instead of play off him. Would've been great to see Cage riff with these very funny and improv style performers, especially Rainn Wilson. Cage will make more comedies tho.

Based apparently on a true story of some All-American Lunatic going off on his own to hunt down and kill Bin Laden. There are several problems, one being that he travels to Pakistan although Bin Laden was in Afghanistan at the time. Oh well. I watched the first half of this film and thought it was pretty funny. The following evening I watched the second half and was incredulous at the fact that I had enjoyed the first part. This is because, half way through, it seems that the budget ran out and so, off he goes to "Pakistan" which I don't think was actually Pakistan. All the things that happen in "Pakistan" simply aren't believable. A white American guy goes wandering about Pakistan and isn't killed or kidnapped? Oh yeah sure. I think not. During the second half, Cage's overacting, which was merely an annoyance earlier, becomes so damned annoying that it required an effort of fortitude to sit and watch the entire piece of rubbish to the end, hoping that somehow, it would redeem itself with a wonderful ending. Let me disabuse you of that idea: No it doesn't.

First off - to all the reviewers who bash Nicolas Cage. Stop it. If you watched the credits, like any good reviewer would, you would see that he captured the character of the real Gary Faulkner. Okay - a wee bit overboard (again, no pun intended, but I'll take it), but that's what the movie was supposed to be: Gary Faulkner's adventure told the way Faulkner would - a wee bit overboard. And if you read articles about the real individual, he's a pure character all on his own. Even Faulkner pads his own life and experiences.

My main problem with the movie was ............. when they showed Denver International Airport, they didn't even get a stock photo of it. It has a very unique profile and it's too bad they couldn't have at least gotten that right given that they have Greeley in the foothills when it's in a part of Colorado that is actually flat as a pancake. YES! Colorado is not all mountains, people!

I watched this because Nic Cage was in it. I'm always interested to see what he's up to. And Russell Brand never disappoints. Come on, any movie that has Russell Brand as God is going to be a bit over the top.

It is an ODD film. If you don't like odd, this is not for you. If you do, you're in for a very fun ride.

Is the depiction of Pakistan good? Probably not. Is the biography accurate? Let's say "inspired by real events". Is this the best comedy of the year? Probably not.

But, Nicolas Cage is above his own average, there is a story to tell and supporting cast do a decent job. In a sense the movie captures the spirit of the character if not the facts, the pacing is acceptable and eventually your viewing experience will be pleasant even if uneventful. Photography and editing are decent and the overall result is a slightly better than average comedy.

It's a full six and a third adjusted to seven to counterbalance the over criticism of my exigent fellow reviewers. There's a lot worse around!

Now, I've tried to carefully avoid mentioning Russel Brand (GOD) so far. That's because his acting is really terrible and his small but essential part brings down the whole to an annoyed five at best. What I've done is to imagine Steve Carrel playing God the whole time and trick my brain. No, I did NOT use drugs, it's a natural brain self defence technique.

Nic ("Ghost Rider") play Gary Falkner, a middle aged dude that seems insane but isn't and sort of reminds you of a strange uncle that you don't personally have but imagine many people do. He can't stop talking or expressing himself, is extremely confident in himself, and fails at almost everything as he alienates everyone. His high pitched nasal rantings about whatever pops into his head are always earnest and never just performance for the sake of common decency.

Nic may be known for some crazy over the top acting moments but this performance is almost believable especially once you see some clips of the real Gary Faulkner and realize how true to the guy it is.

The movie itself is a pretty unique story just as it was when it really happened. Gary believes that God has visited him and wants him to go capture Osama Bin Laden himself. In the film Russel Brandt ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") plays God but even so it's never totally clear whether God is actually talking to him or if it is a figment of his overactive ego.

Of course, as you might expect, a single individual traveling to the middle east to capture the most sought after man in the world will run into some problems not the least of which is his girlfriend Marci. Obviously, she thinks he's nuts and encourages him (read pleads with him) to stay home and give up on his holy calling. There ends up being a lot of interior soul searching for Gary as he tries to figure out how to balance his very real (to him) beliefs and the rest of the world that tells him to ignore a part of himself that he just can't ignore for very long.

I'd love to say that this film transcends and becomes an exploration of the ideas of belief, perception, purpose, and calling but it just never does. He goes back and forth a few times and then things get resolved in a pretty standard way.

I know I'll watch this film a few more times someday but strictly as a chance to show someone a crazy Nic Cage performance that has a few solid laughs in it not as an I'm-in-the-mood-for-a-great-film movie night.