Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”) has made the puppets dance many times when it comes to acting. Rarely, however, has the Oscar winner been able to go as wild as in ‘Bad Lieutenant’ by Werner Herzog (‘Fitzcarraldo’). As corrupt, drug-addicted police officer Terence McDonagh, Cage delivered probably the most insane one-man show of his entire career.
The news that Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage are working together again – 15 years after “Bad Lieutenant” is therefore gratifying! This is what the usually reliable and well-connected Hollywood insider reports David Richtman. As he reveals, Cage will now take on the lead role in Herzog’s new feature film “Dead Man’s Wire.”
This is “Dead Man’s Wire”
Dead Man’s Wire is based on a true story. The focus is on Tony Kiritsis. In the late 1970s he fell behind on his mortgage payments. His real estate agent, Richard O. Hall, refused to give him additional time to pay. Kiritsis was convinced that Hall wanted to take over the property himself and then sell it for a high profit.
Deciding to make a statement, Kiritsis stormed Hall’s office and attached the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun to the back of his head. He stretched a thin wire between the gun’s trigger and Hall’s neck. That meant that if a police officer shot Kiritsis, the shotgun would have gone off and shot Hall in the head. The same thing would have happened if Hall had tried to escape.
In the end, no one died, but the 63-hour hostage situation still went down in history. Especially after Kiritsis portrayed himself as a national hero in front of the cameras and the situation continued to deteriorate due to the unused emotions. It remains to be seen if Cage will be able to panic like he did in “Bad Lieutenant.” But his acting range will certainly be impressively showcased here.