A low-budget thriller that is almost rescued entirely off the back of a sure to please Cage-cultists gonzo performance from its leading man Nicolas Cage, Yuval Adler's dialogue driven cat and mouse thriller is neither smart enough or energetic enough to add fuel to the fire that Cage is so clearly stoking with all his wide-eyed and manic might.
A piece that desires to act as a showcase for both Cage and the continually charisma free Joel Kinnaman, who often looks lost here operating next to Cage's unbridled red-haired fury, Sympathy for the Devil is a high concept almost singular location affair that sees Kinnaman's softly spoken driver hijacked by Cage's deranged gun toting passenger who is demanding to be taken to a location at all costs, setting in motion a slowly unravelling mystery that begins to shine a light on motivations and who is who.
It's a familiar set-up and one that Devil embraces early on but despite the potential for it to allow Cage a playing field to yell about cheese choices, lob Molotovs and sucker punch Kinnaman square in the face, Adler's film is too often found wandering aimlessly through its runtime with mid-tier dialogue, uninteresting set pieces and a story that gets less interesting as it goes creating an experience that pales in comparison to the frenetic and uncaged Cage who gives it his all with limited opportunities.
I'm not sure you would call Cage's performance here as the mysterious passenger a good one in the typical sense of the word but it's an undeniably interesting and dominant one regardless and you get a strong feeling that if Kinnaman could have managed to draw himself out of first gear and Adler found some more innovative ways to make the small-scale settings and situations larger than life, Devil may have been entering into peak independent Cage territory, not the barely passable we find ourselves in here.
Depending on what viewers might want from their experience here, Devil will be judged accordingly, if you want to just get a fix of let loose Cage surely this thriller will suffice but if you want anything more with your entree of wild Cage, Devil offers very little outside of some simple and palatable unhinged Cage, making this a low-key feature that fails to stand out from the crowd.
Final Say -
At times hilarious and exciting when Cage takes centre stage and lets his passionate enthusiasm hog the spotlight, Sympathy for the Devil is a mostly pedestrian ride that gets less engaging as the mystery at its core unravels, revealing nothing more than a forgettable film with an unforgettable leading man charging forward regardless.
2 substitutions out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
A piece that desires to act as a showcase for both Cage and the continually charisma free Joel Kinnaman, who often looks lost here operating next to Cage's unbridled red-haired fury, Sympathy for the Devil is a high concept almost singular location affair that sees Kinnaman's softly spoken driver hijacked by Cage's deranged gun toting passenger who is demanding to be taken to a location at all costs, setting in motion a slowly unravelling mystery that begins to shine a light on motivations and who is who.
It's a familiar set-up and one that Devil embraces early on but despite the potential for it to allow Cage a playing field to yell about cheese choices, lob Molotovs and sucker punch Kinnaman square in the face, Adler's film is too often found wandering aimlessly through its runtime with mid-tier dialogue, uninteresting set pieces and a story that gets less interesting as it goes creating an experience that pales in comparison to the frenetic and uncaged Cage who gives it his all with limited opportunities.
I'm not sure you would call Cage's performance here as the mysterious passenger a good one in the typical sense of the word but it's an undeniably interesting and dominant one regardless and you get a strong feeling that if Kinnaman could have managed to draw himself out of first gear and Adler found some more innovative ways to make the small-scale settings and situations larger than life, Devil may have been entering into peak independent Cage territory, not the barely passable we find ourselves in here.
Depending on what viewers might want from their experience here, Devil will be judged accordingly, if you want to just get a fix of let loose Cage surely this thriller will suffice but if you want anything more with your entree of wild Cage, Devil offers very little outside of some simple and palatable unhinged Cage, making this a low-key feature that fails to stand out from the crowd.
Final Say -
At times hilarious and exciting when Cage takes centre stage and lets his passionate enthusiasm hog the spotlight, Sympathy for the Devil is a mostly pedestrian ride that gets less engaging as the mystery at its core unravels, revealing nothing more than a forgettable film with an unforgettable leading man charging forward regardless.
2 substitutions out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)