“The Wicker Man” (Warner Brothers)
Nicolas Cage At His Worst
Nicolas Cage has seen his star rise dramatically over the years. He started off only adept at playing goofy or eccentric roles, but gradually he moved on to more mainstream characters and even action hero types. He won an Oscar and other awards for his performances. But in his latest movie, “The Wicker Man,” audiences get a chance to see Cage at his worst once again.
Cage plays Edward Malus, a California Highway Patrolman who witnesses a traumatic accident. While he is recovering he receives a letter from his ex-fiance. She asks for his help and tells him her daughter Rowan is lost. Edward decides to go to the remote island off the coast of Washington state where Willow (Kate Beahan), the ex-fiance’, lives.
Once on the island, Edward faces a hostile environment. Women seem to dominate the place with men being good only as servants. He does reconnect with Willow but she seems unable or unwilling to tell him much about her daughter. She does however reveal that Rowan is their daughter together.
Malus roams around the island making a nuisance of himself and probing into homes and barns trying to find the little girl. He does finally get an audience with Sister Summersisle (Ellen Burstyn) who appears to be the “queen bee’ in this peculiar community. She too is not very helpful and ignores his threats about what will happen if she does not cooperate.
The movie builds to a predictable and plodding climax of sorts and leaves the audience dissatisfied with all that occurs. The ending might have been a little more hard-hitting if anything that went before it made an ounce of sense.
Cage’s performance is the worst part of the movie. He never gets a grasp of Edward’s personality and just acts weirdly and talks at the top of his voice. Burstyn is almost as bad. She acts smug and seems to think that is enough to create a full character. It isn’t.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
The movie is full of unanswered questions; such as (1) what did the accident at the first of the movie have to do with anything else that happened in the film (2) why were the island people hostile to Malus upon his arrival there (3) did Malus tell anyone where he was going and how long he would be gone There are many more but this is enough to show that the movie is rarely logical.
“The Wicker Man” is a remake of what has been described as a “cult classic.” Maybe the original is, I don’t know. But this one isn’t going to be – that’s for sure. It is too slow in the suspense department; too carelessly acted by the principle role players; and too illogical to make any sense whatsoever.
This is a movie to avoid. It wasn’t screened in advance for critics and now we know the reason why.
I scored “The Wicker Man” a flammable 3 out of 10.
