Nicolas Cage’s top five performances –

5. Bad lieutenant: port of call New Orleans (2009)

Nicolas Cage has made a name for himself as one of those actors who pushes the boundaries with facial expressions, voice volume and body language. His overacting has gotten him laughed at in films like Next, National Treasure and Wicker Man, but directed by the right person, his explosive screaming is also often channeled into something very good. That’s certainly how Werner Herzog’s painfully underrated remake of the 1970s thriller of the same name works, in which Cage panics so hard you can’t look away. It’s really good…

4. The Rock (1996)

Sure, sure… Cage’s noisy performance in Michael Bay’s noisy action film about the San Francisco terrorist attack is certainly not subtle, nuanced or particularly gentle – it is rather bombastically over-the-top and incredibly silly, but also impressive. Cage gives great character to the bullet-riddled but tough lab rat Stanley Goodspeed, and in contrast to Sean Connery’s rock-hard, routinely ruthless Mason, they make a phenomenal duo of unlikely action heroes.

3. Matchstick men (2003)

One of director Ridley Scott’s (Gladiator /Alien ) best films and certainly his most overlooked films is definitely Matchstick Men where a Cage in top form portrays the character of Roy Waller whose career as a criminal is thrown into turmoil when his rebellious teenage daughter unexpectedly enters the picture. Here Cage relies on his efforts at the beginning of his career, where a neurotic insecurity and some obsessive thoughts shape a man whose presence is about to fall apart. Brilliant acting in a brilliant film.

2. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Cage ‘s first Oscar was for his role as alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson who, in this remarkable, powerful film, goes to Vegas to drink himself to death but stumbles upon an unexpected friendship with prostitute Sera. Cage ‘s ability to cut through his character’s typically masculine quirks by embracing Sanderson’s neurotically nervous, insecure side made this film absolutely fantastic, which, of course, it still is.

1. Adaptation. (2002)

If moviegoers really want to see the absurdly broad range of Cage as a character actor, Spike Jonze’s delightfully twisted, intimate and genuinely fascinating drama is the right choice, with a Cage in top form shining as the twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman. Before beginning shooting here and after initial rehearsals, Jonze asked Nic to try to get rid of all the typical “Cageisms” he had worked up (and partly overused) over the years and the script and characters simply “come naturally to him.” which is what Cage did. The result? By far his best portrayal of a role.