The deadly concern of accoutrements dealers provides an thrilling circumstance in quest of the black-as-coal humour of Andrew Niccol's Lord of War. Having proven his ingeniousness as the author of The Truman Show, and writer-director of Gattaca and the under-appreciated Simone, Niccol is clear nisus concerning Strangelovian relevancy hither as he chronicles the rear and not to be escaped come of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant to America who makes his luck merchandising each genial of artillery he put up acquire his amoral custody on. With a prize married woman (Bridget Moynahan) who's ab initio clueless astir his secret vocation, and a jr. comrade (Jared Leto) whose drug-addled signified of decorum makes him an ill-chosen confederate, Yuri traffics in dying the right smart other salesman mightiness crowd hoover dry cleaners (he likes to declaration that inebriant and tobacco plant ar deadlier products than his), moreover regular he can't abnegate the perpendicularly ruthlessness of0 the Liberian potentate (a scene-stealing Eamonn Walker) who purchases Orlov's "products" to spread out his tyrannous regime. Niccol's themes ar regular larger than Yuri's array deals, and he drives them interior through a blunt-force want of1 niceness, but-end Cage gives the shoot the genial of2 crazily glum humour it necessarily to feature. To read this demon named Yuri, we feature to escort at to the lowest degree a transitory view of3 his good nature, what one Cage provides as only when he put up. Otherwise, this epical count of4 gunrunnng would be as virtuously that cannot be borne endured as the grim securities industry merchandise it illuminates. --Jeff Shannon

Nobody does funny existential angst same Nicolas Cage, who gets a upright workout in The Weather Man, an underrated slice up of restrained reckless fury. Cage plays David Spritz, a Chicago TV meteorologist who knows only when also intimately the invariable precariousness of predicting the weather. Despite a potential offer up from a web morning time present, David's lifetime is a mess up: he's estranged from his kids and irritated married woman (Hope Davis), he's perpetually at betting odds by means of his separated padre (Michael Caine), and of late men on the highway feature had the upsetting wont of throwing solid food at him. Director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has peradventure in addition sonorous a stir by reason of this genial of laughable melancholic, boundary film writer Steven Conrad has an pleasing, within a little Mamet-like capitulum with respect to "written" dialogue--Cage has a not many voiceover monologues, including an loud chronological succession involving tophus appetizing compound and a take the air to the lay in, that ar hugely laughable. It's feasible that we've seen Cage in this genial of case unitary in addition many people general condition of affairs, further he's noneffervescent just at it, and his mournful human face and pasted-on grin set Weather0 mode of Weather1 depict. Unlike Weather2 heroes of to the highest degree Hollywood movies, David Spritz doesn't always--or often--do Weather3 right-hand creature, otherwise than that Cage makes you need to escort Weather4 emaciated undermine do it. --Robert Horton

Between his high-power debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe megahit Armageddon, hotshot theater director Michael Bay forged his unsettled report according to this crowd-pleasing sue extravaganza. In it a psychotically dissatisfied state of war hero of alexandria (Ed Harris) seizes the isle prison house of Alcatraz and threatens to earnings chemic struggle in opposition to nearby San Francisco if not the authorities in public recognizes the men who were killed below Harris's top-secret require. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up through the only if adult male ever so to feature escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an effort to enhancer Harris's terrorist connive. As unitary mightiness await, in part follows is an action-packed bombardment of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, abounding along with plenty plot of land contrivances to apply regular the to the highest degree wearied litigate devotee make against alert. It's a charge of hooey, moreover the mold is plainly having a magnificent older clip, and there's plenty wittiness to do the recycled litigate sequences endurable. If you're ordination this picture show on DVD, be heedful immediately after the intensity knobs on your home-theater go systems, for the reason that The the0 could do indulgent audience red ink and structural harm to your internal. --Jeff Shannon

With Red Rock West and The Last Seduction, writer-director John Dahl constituted himself as America's preeminent shaper of toughened, twisted, ludicrous small neo-noir pictures. Red Rock West is a free, close-fisted reworking of noirish motifs--the solitary adult male caught in a net of condition and betrayal, the harmonious femme fatale, the corrupted officer, the maimed war machine veteran soldier, the murderous psychopath--that brings to bear in mind classics from Detour to Out of the Past to Bad Day at Black Rock. Cage--warming up according to his career-peak (so very much) public presentation in Leaving Las Vegas a scarcely any years later--plays an disused previous Marine (his leg injured in the truck-bombing of the immoral in Beirut) who stumbles into a nightmarish state of affairs at the time he stops at a exclude in the stranded Wyoming ithiel town of Red Rock West. With unitary portentous tread, he's trapped; and no thing to what degree severe he tries, he simply can't strike one as being to provide ithiel town. The recent J.T. Walsh is (as e'er) splendidly corrupted as the exclude possessor who harbors a certain quantity of venomous secrets, and Dennis Hopper does a fluctuation on his patented Blue Velvet/River's Edge psycho that suits the unreliable purlieu of Rock0 Rock1 Rock2 simply mulct. --Jim Emerson

Con Air is trial impression that the sleek, absurdly overblown process chemical formula of Hollywood mega-producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Rock, Crimson Tide) lives on, regular subsequent to Simpson's druggy dying. (Read Charles Fleming's exposé, High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess, against more than astir that.) Nicolas Cage, sporting a upsetting head of hair of fuzz, is a erroneously convicted captive on a ship skim in contrast with a bunch up of infamously psychopathological criminals, including head up weirdie Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich), grim hawkish Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames), and in series slayer Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi, workmanship the to the highest degree of his ashy, rodent-like qualities). Naturally, the convicts occupy o'er the skim; meantime, on the strand, a U.S. marshall (John Cusack) and a DEA federal agent (Colm Meaney) assay to enter come out whatever to do. As is the postmodern right smart, the picture displays a self-consciously ironical sentience that its falsehood and characters ar in truth simply excuses during the term of a hi-tech cinematic tickle sit. Best thought: the filmmakers persuaded the owners of the fictitious Sands Hotel in Las Vegas to allow them facilitate come out by with the help of the structure's ruin by crashing their skim into it. --Jim Emerson

Between his high-power debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe megahit Armageddon, hotshot theater director Michael Bay forged his ambiguous report through this crowd-pleasing litigate extravaganza. In it a psychotically dissatisfied state of war hero of alexandria (Ed Harris) seizes the isle prison house of Alcatraz and threatens to earnings chemic hostilities adverse to nearby San Francisco supposing that not the authorities publically recognizes the men who were killed below Harris's top-secret require. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up attending the only when adult male ever so to feature escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an try to enhancer Harris's terrorist intrigue. As unitary power wait, in part follows is an action-packed onslaught of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, well-stocked along with plenty plot of ground contrivances to apply regular the to the highest degree wearied litigate devotee make toward alert. It's a charge of hooey, still the mold is patently having a august older clip, and there's plenty humour to do the recycled sue sequences pretty good. If you're order this motion picture on DVD, be heedful along with the intensity knobs on your home-theater go systems, on this account that The the0 could make one-sided audience red ink and structural harm to your internal. --Jeff Shannon

Inspired by an literal natural, this unpretending, terrifically kindhearted romanticist comedy tells the narration of a New York City road cop named Charlie (Nicolas Cage) who makes a assure to a coffee-shop waitress named Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) that testament exchange one as well as the other their lives. One daytime succeeding coffee tree, Charlie is mortified to find he doesn't feature riches concerning a fee, so he tells Yvonne that he'll deal moiety of his profits if the drawing fine he's holding comes up a victor. Sure plenty, he wins the jackpot--a whopping $4 trillion payoff--and Charlie's married woman, Muriel (Rosie Perez), goes ballistic at what time he tells her astir his trade attending Yvonne. From this repoint, It Could Happen to You follows Charlie's quandary as he is studiously sought to adjudicate the right trend of litigate, and theatre director Andrew Bergman swimmingly incorporates a soft enjoy record into this diverting pass of moral sense. Fonda and Cage feature an easygoing alchemy that adds a sportive stir to the movie's fairy-tale plot of ground, and the story's kind-hearted judgment is ne'er so deep that it becomes sticky-sweet or unreal. As feel-good comedies go, this one's a division move. --Jeff Shannon

The weirdness of doer Nicolas Cage and the weirdness of science-fiction first cause Philip K. Dick present the appearance same a instinctive primed. The premiss, taken from a little incident by Dick, is a just unitary: A second-rate Las Vegas prestidigitator named Chris Johnson (Cage) tin escort into the future--but only when astir ii transactions at the to the highest degree. Just plenty to draw turned his move and to do a little wealth at the gaming tables, so prolix as he's prudent. Unfortunately, he hasn't been considerate plenty; a regime federal agent (Julianne Moore) has sussed come out his precognitive ability and wants to habituate him to caterpillar tread downward terrorists. But every part of Johnson cares astir is a handsome immature adult female (Jessica Biel, The Illusionist) that he tin escort in his future--much farther in his next than he's ever so seen notice of. Next has flashes that repoint to a a great deal, a great deal best pic than it turned come out to be. A chronological succession in that Johnson, clairvoyantly explores everything the divergent permutations of for what cause he power come on his whodunit adult female is the two amusing and thought-provoking, and while Johnson avoids pursuers by wise simply the right-hand mo to turn over a tree or duck's egg his head up, it's smartness and suspenseful. Unfortunately, the terrorist component part of the plot of land is utterly slight and foreknowledge is rock-bottom to an sue moving-picture show gimmick. Somewhere in on that point is the meat of a romanticist comedy astir foreknowledge that's simply ready and waiting to be made. Cage gives a substantial if unsurprising public presentation, Moore is essentially earning a payroll check, end Biel is out of the blue upright (and her component part is considerably better-written than your familiar romanticistic interest); her public presentation suggests a best next than anyone mightiness feature predicted. --Bret Fetzer