CON AIR

The most important thing to know about this film is that it stars Nicolas Cage, to the nth degree. Resplendent with an improbable haircut and uniquely bizarre delivery of lines, this is a must see for the legions who follow the rollercoaster-style trajectory of Cage’s career and let’s be honest, a must see full stop. This is not Seven Samurai, it is not an arthouse master class, but what it is, is a flat out ridiculous action film. What sets it out from the inbred pool of over the top action films is that it features great actors having a great time hamming it up; John Malkovich is exceptional as a psychopathic genius, John Cusack is a sandal and sock wielding US Marshall, Nic Cage a maniacally virtuous veteran and Steve Buscemi plays a deranged serial killer.

The plot of this film is not altogether that important, it just provides a narrative for some truly ridiculous dialogue and some brilliantly overblown set pieces. If you want camped up action with some stellar performances then this is definitely the film for you. I don’t want to say too much, not that spoilers would matter too much, but just watch it. What I will say is that standing alone, the elements of this film, such as the ludicrous wailing guitar in the soundtrack, wouldn’t work. In this case works though, and how.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118880/