Lord of Mediocrity

Rating: 2/10 (28 March 2007)

This movie is LAME. There are only two good things about it: the subject is slightly unusual (but could have been much more interesting with better handling) and the opening and closing shots of Cage's character are cool. Other than that, I could barely make it through this thing. It took me several days and I had to watch it in chunks.
The characters are two dimensional and I didn't care about any of them; I didn't believe the relationships--ever. The acting, writing, directing-- mediocre at best. Any more, Nick Cage frankly looks strange; it is like he is always trying to look like a movie star (thin, tan, and shiny smile) rather than the characters he portrays. Jared Leto was irritating--it looked like he was auditioning for a bigger part in which he could chew all the scenery all the time. Ethan Hawke was not convincing as a tough government agent ( I don't why he keeps playing cops; he comes off way too wimpy), and the woman who played the wife was the most mediocre of all. I had to rewind a couple times just to hear her completely mispronounce the word "jewelry" (and no I don't think it was a character choice).