5 underrated Nicolas Cage performances to celebrate the release of The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

Nicolas Cage is back on the big screen in Tom Gormican's action-comedy The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (at Cineworld cinemas from today). In it, he plays Nick Cage (see what they did there), a fictional actor who, having fallen on hard times, accepts a $1 million offer to attend a birthday party hosted by a superfan. Things really heat up when Cage is informed by the CIA that the fan in question is a notorious arms dealer, thrusting the actor into a dangerous situation where he has to channel some of his most iconic characters in order to save himself and his family. Packed with thrills, laughs and stunning locations, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent is a movie not to be missed.

Of course, the real Nicolas Cage is pretty talented himself, and has starred in some of the most successful films of the past few decades: Con Air, The Rock, Face/Off and Kick-Ass to name but a few. It would do the California-born star a disservice to suggest that he's just appeared in big blockbusters, though, and some of his finest work has come in movies that are perhaps less well known. To prove it, we've highlighted five of Cage's most underrated performances.

1. Rumble Fish (1983)

Cage was virtually unknown when he appeared in his uncle Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of the S.E. Hinton novel – a coming-of-age drama about young hoodlums in Tulsa. Though he had a fairly small role – his loyal foot soldier Smokey only gets around ten minutes of screen time – he held his own in a stellar cast that also included Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Chris Penn, Diane Lane and Dennis Hopper. The potential was clear to see – and boy, did he live up to it.

2. Guarding Tess (1994)

With 20 films on his CV, Cage was a big star by the time he appeared in Hugh Wilson's comedy drama, playing a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the First Lady (Shirley MacLaine). Starring opposite a screen legend such as MacLaine didn't seem to faze Cage – indeed, The Washington Post described the comic tension between the two leads as being “so well done, it doesn't matter how dumb things get”. Cage and MacLaine became good friends as a result of teaming up in the film, and reportedly even went on to adopt animals together.

3. Lord Of War (2005)

Co-produced by Cage, the Andrew Niccol-directed Lord Of War saw the actor playing a Ukrainian arms dealer who's forced to confront the morality of his work as he's pursued by a determined Interpol agent. The role was a departure for Cage, coming straight after his appearance in the action-adventure flick National Treasure, but his performance was both moving and grippingly authentic. As he said in a Total Film interview he gave following Lord Of War's release: “It’s easy to stay safe in one style, to stay in the box that everyone’s accustomed to seeing you in and to do what is considered the right type of acting at the time. But what do you learn from that?”

4. Joe (2013)

Despite being one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Nicolas Cage isn't too proud to put his name to the occasional low-budget indie flick – as proved by his appearance in Joe. David Gordon Green's powerful drama sees Cage playing a gruff foreman who hires a 15-year-old drifter (Tye Sheridan) and ends up protecting the boy from his abusive father. Though the movie flopped commercially, critics loved it, with Rotten Tomatoes paying particular attention to the leading actor's contribution: “Rich in atmosphere and anchored by a powerful performance from Nicolas Cage, Joe is a satisfying return to form for its star.”

5. Color Out Of Space (2019)

Signing up for a horror film about mysterious meteors and peculiar plants would, for many actors, be seen as a career gamble. But Richard Stanley's movie – based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft – was perfect for Nicolas Cage's talents. Playing father and farmer Nathan Gardner, the star turned in a performance that was at once eccentric, hilarious and slightly frightening. No wonder NME's Harry Gorman called it Cage's “most nuanced” accomplishment for a decade.