The movie that sent Nicolas Cage into Hollywood exile: “I did not take the job lightly”
When looking back on the length and breadth of a Hollywood career from a distance, the inflexion points that are hard to recognise in real-time are much easier to see. For instance, when Nicolas Cage was still one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men at the turn of the 2010s, one of his movies being sent straight to video mightn’t have looked like a big deal. But with the benefit of years of hindsight and the knowledge that Cage’s career descended into the wilderness in that decade, the film that actually signalled his Hollywood exile can now be pinpointed precisely.
In the early ’90s, Cage was an oddball actor who generally made comedies like Guarding Tess and Trouble in Paradise, as well as riskier indie projects like Red Rock West and Wild at Heart. In 1995, though, he made Leaving Las Vegas and vaulted to the top of Hollywood with a ‘Best Actor’ win at the Oscars. Instead of following that harrowing drama of an alcoholic trying to drink himself to death with more dramas that showcased his acting chops to the Oscar crowd, though, Cage made his first major pivot. He starred in three decade-defining action movies in a row – The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off – which secured his spot as the most sought-after leading man in the business.
As the ’90s bled into the ’00s, Cage continued making big, explosion-heavy movies such as Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure, Ghost Rider, Knowing, and Kick-Ass. However, he balanced these out with dramas like Adaptation, which landed him a second Oscar nomination, as well as Matchstick Men and Lord of War. By the late ’00s and early ’10s, though, Cage’s reliable hold on the action crown had started to slip, and he made a series of critically derided movies that also performed poorly at the box office. It’s now easy to recognise that films like Bangkok Dangerous, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Season of the Witch, and Drive Angry presaged his descent into direct-to-video ignominy.
Still, Cage clung to theatrical relevancy until 2013, but with the release of The Frozen Ground, the rot truly set in. In the first 31 years of his career, Cage starred in one movie that went straight to video. In the decade after this chilly serial killer thriller, though, which was released straight to video-on-demand on the same day it received a very limited cinema release, 24 Cage movies suffered the same fate. The eccentric actor made many films that only his most die-hard fans could remember the titles of, let alone watch. In truth, it would take a Cage superfan to differentiate between Rage, Pay the Ghost, The Humanity Bureau, Kill Chain, and Grand Isle.
The ironic thing about The Frozen Ground being the film that sent Cage into oblivion for over a decade, though, is that it isn’t even a bad movie. It’s a proficiently directed thriller based on the real-life murders of Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, and both Cage and co-star John Cusack were praised for their performances. Cage took his performance as seriously as he took any of his theatrical efforts, telling Collider that he was dedicated to honouring the real state trooper his character was based on. “I was primarily just drawing my inspiration from Glenn Flothe,” he revealed. “I spent about three hours with him on the telephone interviewing him. I did not take the job lightly. I view the man as a hero, a real one.”
In truth, this quote lines up with something Cage told Rolling Stone in 2022 when he finally emerged from this tough decade and began starring in theatrically-released fare again. He revealed that his finances were the primary driving factor behind starring in such a deluge of direct-to-video movies. He refused to declare bankruptcy and vowed to work his way through the bad times. However, he was also adamant that he didn’t view these seemingly low-rent films differently than those he worked on in his glory years, and he never gave them any less effort or consideration.
“People thought I didn’t care,” he mused. “I did. I was caring. I think that I did some of the best work of my life in that so-called direct-to-video period. Massive Talent was in that group. Mandy was in that group. Pig, Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans, Joe, Mom and Dad, Colour Out of Space — they were all in that group. The Runner, I thought was terrific. I’ll put any of those movies up [against] the first 30 years.”
