The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2021)

Nicolas Cage is one of those actors who has built a mythology around himself - or in some cases, had one thrust upon them. His career is marked by huge highs: he won an Oscar for 'Leaving Las Vegas' and has received acclaim for many of his dramatic and comedic performances. He also managed to carve out time as an action star in the likes of 'Con Air' and 'The Rock'.

More recently, though, his performances have dived into straight-to-home-entertainment territory, with madcap action movies sharing shelf space with more nuanced indies. He's still putting in solid performances (last year's 'Pig' was a quiet triumph that put him into awards consideration once more), but he's not quite scoring the higher profile parts he once did. Which means that this latest job is a chance to show he's in on the joke.