Nicolas Cage and a PIG

 "You want your supply, I need my pig."  That's a statement from the hermit Nicolas Cage plays in his new indie film. The film is titled PIG. It's about a truffle hunter who lives alone with his pig in the Oregon woods outside of Portland. The pig forages for truffles. A young man in casual business attire drives in to pick up some truffles. Then one night, there's a home invasion and the hermit's pet is pig-napped. The pig is stolen. The scraggly, long-haired, unshaven and shabbily dressed loner is forced to go into the city, Portland, with the young man who gets truffles from him. He's driven to find his pig and get her back. 

I know that sounds like a very weird story but, trust me on this, Nicolas Cage is excellent and moving in PIG. This may be an arthouse film that's too unusual for Academy members. However, they should see it. Nicolas Cage is worthy of a Best Actor Oscar nomination for PIG.

On the surface, this is a movie about a homeless-looking man trying to find his pet pig. But there's something special under the surface. Like truffles. The pig-napping forces the mysterious loner to step out of his past. When the scraggly loner gets into Portland, trying to hunt down his pig, he winds up in sort of a restaurant version of FIGHT CLUB. He writes the name "Robin Feld" on a wall. There's an immediate, obvious respect for the name.

We'll see that the name opens doors for the hermit, regardless of how he looks. He's seated in upscale restaurants. This film is an unusual yet graceful meditation on love, loss and aging. As Cage's character sincerely says about his pet, "I love her." As he tells one Portland restaurant chef in a memorable scene, "We don't get a lot of things to really care about."

Cage has been at the acting game a long time. Remember the 1982 teen comedy, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH? Three actors who played high schoolers in it went on to win an Oscar for Best Actor -- Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker and Nicolas Cage. Cage followed that with solid work in RUMBLE FISH (1983), RACING WITH THE MOON with Sean Penn (I1984), RAISING ARIZONA (1987) and, the divine MOONSTRUCK (1987) with Cher. He did exceptional dramatic work in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995) and ADAPTATION (2002). Then came a period of some rather loopy script choices and films that flew under the radar.

Nicolas Cage won the Best Actor Oscar for 1995's LEAVING LAS VEGAS. The Academy should be reminded of how good an actor he is by seeing his new film. This PIG brought out the best in actor Nicolas Cage.

The film also stars Alex Wolff and Adam Arkin. PIG is the directorial debut of Michael Sarnoski. He also wrote the screenplay.