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A review by livrad
Age of Cage: Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career by Keith Phipps
3.0
The Age of Cage is a profile of Nicholas Cage's four decade-long career, and to a lesser extent, it is a lens for looking at the changes in the film industry, the world outside of film, how production studios and audiences have evolved, how genres have risen/fallen/combined in movies, and how other actors have kept relevant (or not) over similarly long careers.
The book starts with Cage both struggling against his Coppola legacy and yet continuing to work with his family, which sends mixed messages. As his career took off separate from the Coppola name, the walk through his filmography was a real reminder of how, despite being a more recent meme star and absent from theatrical releases, Nick Cage has never "phoned in" an acting job. Some of his character choices have been really out of the box, even over the top, and sometimes in just outright bad movies, but he has completely dedicated himself to each role and could never be accused of taking an apathetic approach to a character. This is backed up by the backstage stories in the book of his character prep and Method dedication to a part, such as when he once had four teeth removed for a role and then refused to unbandage his face until filming started.
I appreciate the nuanced breakdown of some of Cage's on-screen choices, but when talking about his career at large or the experience of working with him, I do wish this volume would have used more first-person content. It would have been nice to hear original content from his costars and those involved in Cage's career (if not Cage himself). The style of the book is very journalistic but relies on secondary sources, or at least it seems like all of the quotes are taken from existing sources, but it isn't made clear. While it contains a lot of interesting information, there's a lack of personal connection or intimacy in the book.
Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy of this audiobook to review.
The book starts with Cage both struggling against his Coppola legacy and yet continuing to work with his family, which sends mixed messages. As his career took off separate from the Coppola name, the walk through his filmography was a real reminder of how, despite being a more recent meme star and absent from theatrical releases, Nick Cage has never "phoned in" an acting job. Some of his character choices have been really out of the box, even over the top, and sometimes in just outright bad movies, but he has completely dedicated himself to each role and could never be accused of taking an apathetic approach to a character. This is backed up by the backstage stories in the book of his character prep and Method dedication to a part, such as when he once had four teeth removed for a role and then refused to unbandage his face until filming started.
I appreciate the nuanced breakdown of some of Cage's on-screen choices, but when talking about his career at large or the experience of working with him, I do wish this volume would have used more first-person content. It would have been nice to hear original content from his costars and those involved in Cage's career (if not Cage himself). The style of the book is very journalistic but relies on secondary sources, or at least it seems like all of the quotes are taken from existing sources, but it isn't made clear. While it contains a lot of interesting information, there's a lack of personal connection or intimacy in the book.
Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy of this audiobook to review.