Nicolas Cage is a firm favourite with The Snooty Ushers, me in particular. It has been nearly 3 years since I delved into the great man’s more recent outings. Well, I had a free TV night and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it.
The Humanity Bureau (Rob W. King, 2018)
Set in the near future, America has been beset by climate change, war and vile political agendas. The country’s infrastructure has broken down. People must provide more than they take in order to live in the Cities. If they can’t provide for themselves they are deported to mysterious New Eden, never to be heard of again. The overwhelmed government has given authority to an agency called The Humanity Bureau, who determine who is useful and who is a burden. Noah Kross is a loyal agent who begins to suspect things aren’t quite what they seem and when he is tasked with relocating a young mother and her son, he rebels and makes a bid to find freedom and the truth.
You maybe forgiven for thinking that given the above synopsis, this has the makings of quite an interesting dystopian sci-fi thriller. Sadly, that is all it has. I would love to see what the production budget was on this film, it can not have been much. The text heavy intro would suggest there was no money for a prologue, the fact that we never really see inside the office of The Humanity Bureau or ever get a glimpse of New Eden would further suggest there was no money to build the sets and the news reel nature of the finale or the fact that there is only ever 3 or 4 actors in a scene at a time, well, you get the picture.
When I mentioned to my fellow Snooty Usher, Rich that I was watching this, his response was “oh no, this is actually bad. I hated it.” Now an endorsement like that would put off most people, but I carried on regardless, maybe with my expectations slightly lowered.
It isn’t a great film, not by a long shot but thanks in part to Rich tempering my expectation going in, I actually enjoyed it way more than I was expecting to. It is not on the same level of bad as things like Outcast, Southern Fury or god help me, Left Behind. On the flip side, it wont trouble the likes of Leaving Las Vegas or Adaptation either.
As Agent Kross, Nicolas Cage is on quite restrained form here. No bursts of his patented rage and he handles the films limited script with ease, without needing to exert himself too much. The supporting cast is full of Canadian actors who I have never seen in anything else before and looking at their turns in this, am not likely to see them in anything in the future.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this, which I will re-iterate, is no ringing endorsement to go out and watch it, but there is a really good idea in there somewhere.
Running With The Devil (Jason Cabell, 2019)
The CEO of a faceless company, who just so happens to be a high player in the drug trade is concerned that someone is messing with his supply. To find the problem, he sends his top enforcer along with his trusted cook to track the supply line and find the problem.
When watching a Nicolas Cage film made in the last 10 years or so, it is unusual for even the most dedicated film fan to be able to recognise any of his co-stars. Occasionally you may get one here and there. Imagine my surprise when I switched this on, that I recognised almost all of the cast from the opening credits. Here, Cage shares top billing with Laurence Fishburne, but it also features Leslie Bibb (Iron Man), Peter Facinelli (Twilight Saga), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan), Clifton Collins Jr (Star Trek), Cole Hauser (Pitch Black, 2 Fast 2 Furious) and Eddy from Friends. My interest was peaked and expectation was high, or as high as it can get for a straight to dvd film.
Nicolas Cage is The Cook, a trusted employee, who along with The Executioner (Hauser) is dispatched by The Boss (Pepper) to see where the issue is with the supply line. Laurence Fishburne is The Man, a low level dealer, who is trying to go into business for himself and Leslie Bibb is The Agent trying to bring them all down.
The film then meticulously breaks down the cocaine supply line from the fields of Columbia to the cocaine hot bed that is, erm Vancouver, Canada.
This would be a great film if you were at all interested in the journey of cocaine from source to sale, but going in, I was not. At all. The film’s job would them be to make me interested by first of all telling an interesting story, which they just about manage despite some serious pacing issues and secondly, write interesting characters for me to invest in.
It is here where the film is really let down. It isn’t clear who we are meant to be rooting for. No character is fleshed out enough for us to invest in them in anyway. They are a pretty unpleasant bunch, with Cage’s cook being the most sympathetic, but only down to the fact that he has a pregnant wife. Jason Cabell, the films writer/director hasn’t even bothered to give his characters names, so if he hasn’t invested the time in them, why should we? The story itself isn’t strong enough to hook you in without having someone to root for.
Nicolas Cage is as understated as I have ever seen him here, with only a brief glimpse of his rage in his final scenes. Even now, a little puffier than he has been in recent years, there are still glimpses of what made him a great actor.
At the end of the day, the film isn’t bad. In fact I might even stretch to saying that it actually okay and if you have sat through the amount of Nicolas Cage’s straight to dvd work as I have, then that is praise indeed.
It has been a while since I have spent an evening with the great man. I love watching these films, sure the quality isn’t what you would say the best, but I enjoy it none the less.
See you next time for more from The Cage Files.
Thanks for reading. Hope you folks enjoyed yourselves, catch ya later on down the trail.
The Snooty Ushers 
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