As a drunken Irishman, I totally agree with the theory that God looks after drunks and Irishmen. Having watched “Army of One” (2016), I believe the definition of “drunk” may be broad enough to include Colorado stoners. Nicholas Cage devours scenery as a samurai Lebowski on a quest to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. Hijinks ensue while somehow also giving birth to a working-class rom-com. If that seems like too much, just imagine your last conversation with that scatterbrained guy you know, the one who talks really fast to keep up with his thoughts. This movie is that conversation.
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Shirley MacLaine is pretty much awesome and Nicholas Cage is good when he has to play an actual character and not a “star,” so it was a foregone conclusion that “Guarding Tess” (1994) would be a decent movie. MacLaine is the president’s cantankerous widow and Cage is the stoic in charge of her Secret Service detail. It’s pretty much “Driving Miss Daisy” with no black people. (That’s a description, not a value judgment.) Dealing with mortality. Dealing with the fact that your calling doesn’t match your ambition. Plus some wacky hijinks. And the president is a George W. Bush premonition.
A movie about a guy writing a movie about a book. About orchids. Seriously? Yet “Adaptation” (2002) works. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a Maggie Gyllenhaal sighting. And a Catherine Keener sighting. Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper as stars don’t hurt, either. But mainly it’s the intricately interwoven plot that’s part book, part writing a movie about the book, and part crazy, made-up shit. I’m loathe to make the comparison, but it’s like an orchid. Delicate, high maintenance, occasionally satisfying. (I love gardening and houseplants. I’ve had a couple orchids. What pains in the ass. But… oh, hello, Nicholas Cage.)
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