Deadfall (1993)

How sad is this?

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

In his autobiography, "Wide-Eyed in Babylon", Ray Milland told about witnessing a performance by Charles Laughton while co-starring with him in "Payment Deferred".First Laughton rolled his eyes until only the whites showed. Then his lips twitched and quivered, and then he began to slobber. This went on until Milland was convinced Laughton was having an epileptic fit. Finally the director called, "Cut."Milland discreetly asked the director whether he considered what he had just witnessed to be fine acting. The director assured him that it wasn't, simply sheer self-indulgence, but that Milland shouldn't start feeling superior because he would be doing it himself if he lasted that long. The director considered it an occupational disease with most actors.This goes a long way towards explaining Nicholas Cage's performance in "Deadfall".The film is about con men, involving the same con that was the basis of "The Sting". "Deadfall", made in 1993, predates 2003's "Confidence" in 'paying homage' to that great movie. Joe Dolan, played by Michael Biehn is involved in a sting that goes wrong when he accidentally shoots and kills his father, Mike Dolan. With his dying words, Mike sends his son to find his Uncle Lou. Mike and Lou are both played by James Coburn. Lou decides to bring Joe in on a life fulfilling "long" con and teams him up with Eddie, his right-hand man. Eddie, played by Nicholas Cage, becomes stressed by Joe's presence and this leads to increasingly excessive behaviour. Cage's performance is startling. To portray Eddie's anger management issues, Cage must have felt that tantrums along the lines of a child experiencing the terrible twos would be about right. After a fight with his girlfriend, Cage lays on a bed kicking and screaming. Cage also adopted a false nose for the role as though he knew he was going to cut loose and possibly felt he needed a little anonymity. One is forced to ask if the director, Christopher Copolla, had any control over Cage at all? The answer could lie in the fact that Nicholas Cage is Christopher Copolla's brother – his little bro' in fact. Joe becomes involved in his uncle's scam. The mark is one Dr. Lyme, who has a taste for beautiful diamonds. Distractingly, the doctor wears an artificial hand that features a large pair of scissors not unlike Edward Scissorhands' in hedge trimming mode. This arresting prosthesis gives his character a cartoonish quality – just another odd element in a movie that lacks a consistent style. The scam goes down, and the movie ends with a series of twists that are too contrived to create much impact. "Deadfall" is unbalanced by some extreme characterisations, and is so derivative that there is not much originality left in the film – other than Nicholas Cage's performance that is.

This was well on its way to high marks and I thought I had purchased a real "sleeper" or "find" in the previously-viewed VHS rack a decade ago but the last 40 minutes of the film made it a "thumbs down" reject. In that time period, there were about 20 usages of the Lord's name in vain. James Coburn accounted for eight alone in a period of one minute and 20 seconds! That ruined the film for me.The final half of this movie wasn't that good anyway, with a confusing storyline and an unsatisfying ending. All of the above was a shame because the first half of this is very interesting and nicely filmed. It had good style to it and Nicholas Cage's character, "Eddie," was so outrageous it made the movie fun to watch. He was unbelievable!! In fact, when he went a little too berserk and was killed, the film went down the tubes.

Michael Biehn was the only saving grace in this movie. I don't know how Cage got anymore jobs after his performance, of course he only had to work with what the writers gave him. Maybe if the writers had taken the time to write a better script, then maybe the movie would have been better. I've seen most of the actors and actresses in other films, and I was surprised by all of their performances. I don't think any of them had much to work with. Again, the fault lays with the writers. I really felt sorry for the actors. And I wanted to cry for Michael Biehn. He is such a great actor, under rated, but great. He, as well as the other actors, didn't stand a chance with this film.

There is only one great thing about this movie, but this makes it all worth watching: Nicolas Cage as Eddie! This is truly his ultimate character. When you see Cage in action, you will truly realize that he is the greatest and coolest actor EVER. The way he affects the film by just being there is just so impressive. Still, the plot is nothing special, and the rest of the cast is only fair. (This is no reason to avoid it) Deadfall proves that Cage handles more than blockbusters like Face/Off, The Rock and City of Angels, movies that most people associate him with.So if you are a true Cage-fan, DO NOT MISS DEADFALL!!! Also check out "Vampire`s Kiss" and "Raising Arizona".Both AWESOME examples of the Movie Phenomenon Nicolas Cage.