Pig (2021)

Probably you've heard by now that Nicolas Cage is relatively under control in this one, and that's true enough in some ways. He doesn't make faces (or they're well hidden by facial hair) and I don't think he shouts even once. But he's lunatic intense like he usually is. He plays a man living off the grid in the forests near Portland, Oregon, making what money he needs by using a truffle pig and selling to a broker for high-end restaurants. Then his pig is stolen and he is on a serious mission to recover her, because he loves her. In fairness, it's a pretty adorable animal and not in the picture nearly enough. But this is also where Pig starts to feel like typical histrionic Cage stuff. It turns out he is actually a famous gifted chef and his name alone can gain him entry into any room in Portland that has anything to do with the restaurant business. Also, he knows about a secret place underground in downtown Portland where men fight with bare knuckles and bet on the fights. He has all kinds of exaggerated powers of skill and sensory sensitivity, plus he can really take a beating. He claims to remember every meal he ever made and every person he ever served. He says all this with his face caked with blood as apparently there is no time to wash up with his pig missing. And/or he's just eccentric that way. He seems to be able to go everywhere looking like that, including sitting in fine restaurants, with a minimum of fuss. That felt like a reach. Then there's a story about a kind of sidekick he has, the kid he sells truffles to, who has some kind of drama going on with his father that's never quite explained but we know enough of these stories to fill in our own details if we're interested enough. I wasn't and it seemed hackneyed to me. But I got a kick out of the Portland setting and the sendup of high-end restaurant culture, and I felt for Cage's character and the loss of his animal, his familiar in the wilderness, his pet. Of course the script needs to make it clear he is not fucking the animal, because, well, you know—Cage, modern times, the usual debasements, etc. Cage is good but I wish he were good enough that it didn't have to be spelled out so explicitly, that we could just read it from his character. I had hopes Pig would be better than it is but even so I enjoyed it, with allowances for Cage's excesses. They're never that much under control.