Recent projects with Nicolas Cage pass or appear to be failures: always more absurd, always more ready to make people talk about themselves and him on paper, they often turn out to be disappointing upon viewing. Too tightly held in check, likeA golden talent massive, a bit disappointing Renfieldor frankly neither facts nor doing as Dream scenario. Only some, like Prisoners of the Ghostlandhave some real little surprises in store. This time, here he is at the center of a feature film which displays too many faults to really convince.
Twenty minutes too long
A father comes one morning to an Australian coast to try surfing with his teenage son. This is where he lived when he was young and he never got over having to leave. So much so that he wants to buy his family’s house, overlooking this beach. That’s actually why he came… But on the sand, a group of aggressive surfers, all men, and ultra masculinists in the end, are active and don’t let strangers in their area approach. We can say it straight away, the action of the film is not going to take place over the course of a day. After twenty-five minutes, the son will have gone home, and Nick will be alone, gradually losing his life, then in this corner held by hostiles, who own everything there. And precisely: on the one hand, the fact that he doesn’t leave seems a little forced, even if he wants his house at all costs. On the other hand, the whole fall that he is going to undergo will seem very, very long, exaggeratedly long.
Disappointing ending
Appearing crazy at first glance, the film actually turns out to be quite programmatic: we are not surprised by the progression of events. When the end approaches, the character’s development remains rather unexciting. Neither touching nor completely becoming crazy or evil when the term approaches, the character that Nick plays seems dim. We therefore leave it feeling little exalted. Especially since we had to endure this last scene on the beach, forced and not credible, compared to the universe established by the film. As for the director, who was noticed with Vivariumwe forget it. The promising names of cinema and Nick, an alliance which never really transcends much.
