‘Get thee behind me, Satan…’
Nicholas Cage is a law unto himself. Who knows why he does anything? It seems his financial issues are behind him so he no longer has to appear in every single film that comes his way. And yet, still, his choices are odd. I have never heard of director Yuval Adler or writer Luke Paradise (who sounds suspiciously made up). Cage obviously saw enough in the pair to agree to star in Sympathy for the Devil and boy does he carry this movie…
David Chamberlain (Joel Kinnaman) just wants to see his wife give birth to their second child. After arriving at the hospital, however, a fucking lunatic bundles his way into David’s car and pulls a gun on him. From there, the two embark on a twisted and twisty journey that takes in a hapless cop (Cameron Lee Price), a luckless waitress (Alexis Zollicoffer) and lots of shouting.
As ever, if you like Cage, you will like Sympathy for the Devil. While he is fairly restrained (by his standards) with his shock of purple hair and broken nose but when he does go off he really pops. There are moments in this film in which Cage is genuinely menacing, not just playing the part of a psychopath. I’m not familiar with Cage’s co-star Joel Kinnaman at all but he is very solid here, playing off Cage’s manic energy and providing some memorable moments of his own, particularly in the film’s admittedly enjoyable conclusion. The issue here is the pacing. The first half hour and the ending are excellent but the middle section sags and becomes repetitive at times.
Sympathy for the Devil is not vintage Cage but for long-time fans, it’s another solid entry in what has been an incredibly compelling third act for the iconic actor.