Admittedly, while Nicolas Cage is currently experiencing his second spring in his career, he also made a lot of mistakes in the 2010s. One of the highlights of that time is now available as a stream for free on Amazon: “Joe – The Revenge is His”.
“Nicolas Cage shows one of his best performances here,” writes our author Björn Becher in the CELEBTAP review, among others. Joe – Revenge is his” (4 stars) – and is anything but alone with it. Whether it’s the New York Times or the LA Weekly, Nicolas Cage’s performance in the haunting drama stunned the trade press, who hailed it as one of his best films of the past decade (86 percent positive vote on Rotten Tomatoes, 74/ 100 points on MetaCritic).
The drama screened at some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world (Venice and Toronto) and was celebrated almost without exception, but in this country it was not even enough for a theatrical release. Relatively unnoticed, the film developed into a kind of direct-to-video insider tip that not only Cage fans should have seen. And now there’s a great way to do that: Because “Joe – Die Rache ist sein” is now available as a stream completely free on Amazon Freevee:
You don’t need a Prime subscription for this, just an Amazon account – and you can watch the highlight for free. You just have to live with commercial breaks in return.
Now for 99 cents on Amazon Prime Video: the cruelest movie in years, strong unadulterated horror with FSK 18 & more
And we can only recommend that you take a look: of the many pickles that Nicolas Cage otherwise shot in the 2010s, one of his highlights is “Joe”, who lives in no small part from the great performance of the protagonist. Don’t be fooled by the somewhat lurid German title: “Joe” is not a hard revenge hit.
This is “Joe – Revenge is Mine”
Cage takes on the role of former criminal Joe, who tries to avoid getting into trouble again after his last sentence. He lives from hand to mouth, likes to drink and works in a forestry company where he and other forest workers poison old trees to make way for new ones. Until one day a chance encounter takes him out of his daily grind:
He meets 15-year-old Gary (Tye Sheridan), whom he reluctantly takes under his wing, but quickly develops an unlikely friendship. And that’s exactly what puts Joe in an awkward position: Gary’s father (Gary Poulter) not only neglects his son, but is also violent. Joe, who grows to love Gary more and more, doesn’t like that at all…
Nicolas Cage as Dracula and fast-paced action: The trailer for “Renfield” promises crazy fun – from the inventor of “The Walking Dead”
As already mentioned, “Joe – Die Rache ist sein” is especially worth seeing because of a strong performance by Cage, who serves a wide variety of facets in his role:
“He gives the muscular, broad-backed Joe the formidable build of a man who seems to be constantly energetic and who has to control himself in the smallest of conflicts so he doesn’t panic and turn violent,” our review reads on one side. When he collapses at the end of the day, Cage reveals the physical and mental exhaustion of a man who loves nothing more than to sit on his couch. And Tye Sheridan, known for his roles in “Tree Of Life”, “Mud – Kein Ausweg”, “Ready Player One” and “The Card Counter” among others, proves at a young age why he is one of the most promising actings hopes of his generation.
Also on this point, we would of course like to mention director David Gordon Green. The filmmaker, who is best known for his strong horror-cult revival “Halloween” or violent comedies à la “Pineapple Express”, mainly established himself with indie dramas that often deal with outside characters.
In “Joe” he did not succeed despite, but also thanks to an extraordinary dramaturgy. Because Green tells his story pleasantly calmly, almost casually, and relies on rather loosely connected fragments of his protagonist’s life rather than straightforward narratives – thus not only creating a very special dynamic, but also making his characters particularly tangible.
New to Amazon Prime Video: revenge ripper featuring FSK 18, sci-fi end of the world with trash factor, and essentials for Nicolas Cage fans
*The link to the Amazon offer is a so-called affiliate link. If you make a purchase through this link, we receive a commission.
