Pig

So, how do you like your Cage? It's a common cry to suggest that he's either overcooked or raw ham but I reckon that's pretty reductive. Sure, he's often bonkers and he has been in some absolute shite, I'll concur with that. But to say he's doing something extraordinary in Pig, simply because he's NOT opening his eyes as wide as possible or moving his head around way too frenetically, is falling for the (probably unintentional) deceit. He's fine here, understated, measured, with a few great little speeches and I'd agree that it's one of his better performances. But go easy on the adulation just because he's quiet.

Pig is a story about a man who has to deal with loss - and the pig is only the most recent one. Cage plays Rob, a reclusive Oregon forest dweller, who makes a small crust collecting truffles for a callow fellow from the city restaurant trade, Amir, played by Alex Wolff. Equilibrium is suddenly upset by the pig-napping incident and Rob sets out on a singular task - get the pig back. Writer/director Michael Sarnoski and co-writer Vanessa Block might have used Cage's reputation here to suggest this was to become a kind of John Wick style revenge thriller, but what it actually does is subvert that course. Though it does flirt shamelessly with Fight Club (a weird scene in a Portland basement), it ends up more similar to Ratatouille by the end. You'll get my drift if you see it.

It's a film about remembering (and maybe trying to forget) and it's a film about growth; personal in the form of Amir and, to a lesser extent, his father, Darius (Adam Arkin); as well as industry growth, namely the food and restaurant industry. Rob's monologue to Chef Finway (David Knell) that nothing's 'real' and that he has abandoned his dream clearly shows how the film feels about this change. Just a thought: it's notable that Rob is almost the only main character who DOESN'T change, even down to not cleaning the blood, snot and scabs off his face and clothes. There are changes happening all around him but he remains pretty much as he was at the start. Perhaps we're to assume that his arc happened before the film takes place.

Technically speaking, Pig is on point. There are some fantastic shots of the forest and the editing is very well paced - lingering when required, faster when the stakes rise. My one quibble would be the song used at the end - judge for yourself, but I thought it an odd choice. I mean, I don't mind Black Sabbath... but War Pigs? Hmmm.

Pig opens at the Luna Leederville and Palace cinemas on Sep 16th.

See also:

I feel like it's right to back up my whinge from the opening paragraph. For me, Cage's best performances are still in Raising Arizona (1987), directed by the Coen Brothers, Vampire's Kiss (1988), by Robert Bierman, Adaptation. (2002), by Spike Jonze and The Weather Man (2005), by Gore Verbinski. Pig gets mighty close to these, though.

MILD SPOILERAGE WITHIN POD...