One ofNicolas Cage’s best performances is finally connecting with a wider audience thanks to the power of Netflix. Released in 2021,Pigdidn’t make a huge splash at the box office, but the film impressed critics, landing a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Now that it’s climbing the charts on Netflix, you might be wondering ifPigis worth a watch. The short answer? Yes.
Reading the logline forPig,the 2021 indie drama by Michael Sarnoski, it’s easy to assume it’s going to be another one ofCage’s meme-worthy projects. A movie about a reclusive chef who will stop at nothing to find his stolen truffle pig? Sounds like an opportunity for Cage to tear things up,Drive Angry-style. But watching the film is a very different experience altogether.
Rather than deliver the kind of bug-eyed craziness that’s made him such a meme icon, Cage’s work as the brilliant, broken man at the heart ofPigis one of his most tender, subtle, and affecting performances in decades.Pigis currently enjoying a well-deserved resurgence on streaming, staking a place in Netflix’s top 10, so it’s a perfect time to take in another side of the legendary actor.
‘Pig’s Culinary Underworld
Cage anchorsPigas Robin Feld,a chefwho became a truffle hunter after his wife’s death and moved out into the Oregon wilderness. His main contact with the outside world comes from brief visits from Amir (Alex Wolff), his truffle broker, whom he keeps at more than arm’s length. His only true source of connection is with his beloved pig, his constant companion both on truffle hunts and in his sparse cabin. One night, Robin is knocked out by intruders and awakens to find his pig has been stolen, sending him on a journey into Portland’s culinary underworld to get her back, reluctantly aided by Amir.
One of the most fascinating parts ofPigis how Sarnoski depicts the surprisingly seedy underbelly of Portland’s food scene, complete with its own set of strange rules, secrecy, and even a fight club. Robin’s status as a formerly legendary chef opens doors for him, but he has to literally get knocked around in order to make it happen. It would all be pretty ridiculous if not for Sarnoski’s careful hand as a writer and director, and the deeply wounded soul at the film’s center.
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Why ‘Pig’ Is Cage at His Best
Cage has been a Hollywood mainstay for decades now, but in the 2000s and early 2010s, his career was struggling somewhat. He acted in more movies than ever, but their quality was largely poor, the result of him having to take on whatever work he couldto repay millions in back taxes. An actor known for his wild screen presence suddenly seemed like he was going through the motions.
Around this same time, Cage became something of a meme icon when compilations of his most insane acting moments racked up millions of views online. Cage leaned into this newfound clout at the end of the 2010s, appearing in well-received genre fare like 2017’sMom and Dadand 2018’sMandy.While he was still doing plenty of paycheck work at this point, these films served as a reminder of just how electrifying Cage could be when he was firing on all cylinders. In recent years, Cage has found a sweet spotbetween acclaimed actor and living memethat has served him very well.
All of this made his deeply internal, incredibly moving turn inPigthat much more surprising. Robin is too beaten down by life, too resigned to spend the rest of his days in isolation, to rage at the world. He’s willing to do whatever he has to do to get his pig back, approaching everything with a resigned determination. For large swaths of the film, Cage doesn’t have any dialogue at all, but his crippling grief is still visible in his eyes and his movements.
The closest he gets to a big, showy scene is probably when he dresses down a former prep cook named Derek (David Knell doing some marvelous flop-sweat acting), who now runs a popular but pretentious fine dining joint, chasing trends over his longtime dreams. It’s a fantastic scene where Robin cuts Derek to the core, all without having to raise his voice above a murmur.
Pig’squiet, mournful tone may feel unsatisfying to those who prefer Nic Cage at his most excessive, but it’s a reminder that beneath all the surface pleasures of his wildest work (and there’s no doubt they’re always fun to watch), he can still deliver a remarkably grounded performance to rival Hollywood’s best.Pigwill likely go down as one of Cage’s finest works, an opinion held byno less an authority than Cage himself.
Pigis available to stream now on Netflix.
