Io, Dio e Bin Laden

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.

Right, now I have to state that I wasn't aware that this was actually based on real events. Yeah, I had not heard about the guy who actually underwent this trek to find Bin Laden himself.

But anyway, I sat down to watch "Army of One" with my better half, because my wife is a fan of Nicolas Cage. I, however, am not a fan of his, not in any way; I think he has one expression for every scene and every character - and that is constipated.

I will say that Nicolas Cage impressed me tremendously here with his performance in "Army of One". It was good to see him in a role such as this, and get to see a more diverse and offbeat side to his acting. I was actually genuinely impressed with what he pulled off here. And this is easily the second best performance of his entire career, with the best (in my opinion) being "Matchstick Men" from 2003.

The story in "Army of One" is about a fairly unstable civilian who decides to set out to find Bin Laden and bring him to justice, since the American army had no luck in doing so.

Now, I do like Russell Brand, but I didn't think he was the right cast for this movie. It was just a bit too off to see him in this movie. He is a funny guy, for sure, but he is better at comedies of a whole different genre.

"Army of One" is actually a very enjoyable movie, and it is a movie that is fun and turned out to be entertaining. I was surprised with how good I found the movie, so I can actually warmly recommend that you take the time to watch "Army of One", whether or not you are a fan of Nicolas Cage. It is a movie that tells a good story.

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.

Hilarious movie. Can't understand the bad reviews. Cage should get an Oscar for the. most absurd performance ever.

Reading the reviews it's like how can they be so serious!? This Is comedy gold. Ridiculous is a good thing.

I usually like Nicholas Cage in everything even all his camp movies, but this one takes the cake. He transforms in the weirdest archetype of crazy. Truly clinical madness. Proves Nicolas Cage has more guts then you ever thought

Russell Brand is perfect in his supporting role as is Wendy Covey.

A gem of idiocy.

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.