Trespass

I was curious to watch "Trespass" because of the interesting casting of Nic Cage and Nic Kidman. I was a bit wary about Nic Cage, as his films lately have been a bit on the hammy side. Despite his leery reputation though, it is a wonder that he continues to get a lot of work, but good for him. Another curiosity about this film was the name of Joel Schumacher as director. His was a big name in directing box-office hits in the 80s and 90s. The last of film of his I had seen was when he directed Gerard Butler as "Phantom of the Opera."

"Trespass" turned out to be a film about a family whose beautiful suburban house was intruded upon by a gang of desperate amateur robbers. The robbers were quite violent and brutal the way they treated diamond trader Kyle Miller (Nic Cage), his glamorous wife Sarah (Nic Kidman) and their rebellious young daughter Avery (Liana Liberato). Things got a little more complicated when it was revealed that one of the robbers Jonah (Cam Gigandet) had a psychotic crush on Sarah.

The performances were over the top and unconvincing, both of the victims and the intruders. Nicole Kidman reminded me of her debut performance in "Dead Calm" as the victim of a psycho guy in love with her. However, she definitely loses her subtlety as well as any sexual tension as a victim here. Nicolas Cage was typically florid in his acting. You don't know where from his business background he got his extreme gung-ho bravado in facing these robbers! It was good to see Liana Liberato again after her memorably disturbing debut film "Trust." She had her good moments here. Cam Gigandet was appropriately creepy as the deluded Romeo. Jonah's brother and gang ringleader Elias was well-played by Ben Mendelsohn, whom I just realized was one of the sons in another crime family in "Animal Kingdom."

This was probably one of the noisiest movies set in a single house that I have seen. Everyone was always hysterically screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs. Despite the brutality of the robbers, it was a wonder how the victims also had the guts to stand up to them. The Millers were daringly answering and fighting back in spite of the guns brandished by the bad men in their faces! I must say this whole thing was highly improbable and unrealistic. Watch this at your own risk. Strictly for fans of the two Nics.

An actual good Cage performance, that we have forgotten about after over a decade of utter dreck. I will say at the time, this film was that very dreck. He has been doing these kind of performances, one after another since 2011, but when I go back and see Trespass, I wonder why? He did it all perfectly here, to where the others seem like imitation and are coming up shorter. That is because creating a character rings differently than just running through a 'mad man' shtick he repeats. I think it is because of Joel Schumacher. He was a real actors director, a master director who worked in the confines of mainstream film. Rediscovering his work from ground up from the 1980s, I see his mainstream films in a new light, from Phone Booth, to this, he never lost that artistry, even if it came in more outrageous packages.

When I heard about the new movie "Trespass" the actors were what reeled me in at first. Between Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage and Cam Gigandet, I had my hopes set pretty high for a well acted movie; and I was not disappointed in the least. The movie starts off with your typical wealthy family with an angst filled teenage daughter. The marriage of the characters Kyle and Sarah, Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman respectively, seems strained at first, with Sarah's needs not being met because of Kyle's being preoccupied with work. When 2 "police officers" come to the house however, terror ensues. A violent hostage situation grips the family and shows how far a father will go for his wife and his daughter. Not only does Nicolas Cage shine as a man with a tortured secret, he embodies how strong a person should be in such a situation. The shocking realism of this movie is bloody, but not too gory, and really thrills you to the last scene. All in all Trespass delivers tenfold and leaves the audience with a final thought: get out, or die trying.

This straight to DVD, "paint by numbers" thriller staring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman was one hell of a disappointment. The home invasion sub-genre while popular continually devours itself by its own lack of originality. There were a few moments in Trespass where the story could have taken a much more substantial route but rather then strive for something original the story falls back into the safe "paint by numbers" genre style. So in short - once you've seen one you've seen them all.

I have no idea where it went wrong but there was once a time when Nicolas Cage was hailed as being a great talent of cinema. During the past 10 years I can only count two films that feature the quality of acting he was once known for - 2009's doomsday epic Knowing & 2011's fantastic Drive Angry. There were scenes in Trespass that were obviously meant to be tense & on the edge but they were stripped of that feeling by the sub-par performance of Nicolas Cage as Kyle Miller. I found myself laughing several times when I should have been rooting for his character. He was just that bad. Played by someone else the character of Kyle Miller could have helped anchor this movie a little more and allow it to regain the intensity that it lacked.

The supporting cast (Nicole Kidman included) worked with what they had but I just wasn't able to invest in caring whether they lived or died. Nicole Kidman who is still such a great talent was reduced to spending the majority of this film sobbing and crawling along the ground. There was no need for the character of Sarah Miller (Nicole Kidman) to be played by someone of Kidmans stature. This character could have been played by anyone. The character Avery Miller (Liana Liberato) has a couple of great scenes towards the end of this film.

Trespass had the chance to go down a different route but sadly it went the safe, predictable path that we've all seen before.

Nicolas Cage has been on a bad movie streak for a while now. Every now and then he makes a winner, but most are forgettable B-movies that he agrees to do for a paycheck: You can't blame the man for doing his job. However, not all B-movies are bad - in fact, they're ideal entertainment if you want to sit back, relax, and shut off your brain for a couple hours. Trespass provides that mindless entertainment in spades, with a few head-scratches along the way.

The premise of Trespass is simple: Nic Cage plays a diamond dealer who lives in a beautiful house with his wife and daughter, and some thugs break into the house one day to steal his stash. Nicole Kidman plays his wife who feels distant from her hard-working husband, and the daughter is a typical rebellious teen that sneaks out and goes to a party behind her parents' back. Nothing special.

What makes this movie interesting is the performances. Cage taps into his subtlety - something he rarely does these days - which helps the tension and uneasiness of the atmosphere build until he finally bursts (on more than one occasion). And you never really know what is going through his head. These characters have secrets, all of them, and herein lies most of the film's faults.

The villains in this movie are a mixed bag. Each of the burglars have their own agenda that we find out over the course of the movie through the use of flashbacks and security cam footage. Some of the reveals are a pleasant surprise, others leave you scratching your head. It gets to the point that they're trying to intertwine all these villains' motives together but it ends up feeling forced and underwhelming. However, it is nice that they tried to do something different. Also Ben Mendelsohn's performance as the lead maniac and his eccentric back-and-forth between Cage really adds to the gravity of the situation and makes for a gripping protagonist-antagonist dynamic.

So to wrap up, this is not a thinking man's movie. You can try to put all the pieces together at the end but you'll only end up confused and disappointed - it's not worth the effort. The best thing you can do is grab some popcorn, turn off your brain and watch the events unravel before your eyes. You won't remember this movie as one of Cage's best that's for sure, but it's far from his worst. A good date movie? Sure. It's only 90 minutes, and if you're a fan of Nicolas Cage, you'll surely get at least some enjoyment from Trespass.