PIG (2021) – One fine swine of a movie
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Like Liam Neeson, Nicholas Cage seem to have a steady stream of movies that comes out each year. Unlike Liam Neeson though, Cage’s choice of movie materials tend to offer a wider range. In fact, one can almost say that Nicholas Cage movies are often unconventional and bizarre. Cage had made a name for himself by acting as all sorts of crazy characters so in a way, there is some level of commonality and built-in expectations in his movies.
In his latest, the rather offensively titled “Pig”, Cage plays yet another recluse with a tragic past who stays in the wilderness with well,, his pet pig. It turns out he uses his pig to hunt for truffles in the jungle, which are then sold to up market restaurants in the city. One evening, his pig was forcefully taken from his possession and he makes the journey to the city to get his pig back.
Cage movies are often laden with violence, and I have to admit that I was expecting some sort of John Wick mayhem to happen in his pursuit for recovering his beloved pig. In fact the early parts of the film misleadingly fell towards this path. However, I was not prepared for what was to follow. Pig turns out to be an unusual study of grief and learning to come to terms with one’s past and present. The blood and gore that are often in Cage movies are missing here so manage your expectations. Pig is more of a character study play. Cage puts on a remarkable performance of a stubborn man who is unable to shake the tragedy of the past. This human study is actually subtly presented and one could easily have missed this fundamental message over its main story about a man looking for his pig.
His character forms a strange bond with a young business man played with sensitivity by Alex Wolff and cross paths with the young man’s father played by Adam Arkin. There is also an unforgettable encounter between Cage and the master chef of a posh restaurant who turns out to be his apprentice many years ago played by David Knell. The conversations are unconventional which makes the movie unique. Pig delivers thanks to the performances and a goofy script that asks the question “Who has my pig?”. Pig is the directorial debut for Michael Sarnoski and judging from the result he has a natural talent for this and amazingly able to extract such a raw performance from Cage too!