Sympathy for the Devil (2023)

Nicolas Cage, who once won an Oscar for his leading role in “Leaving Las Vegas”, can play somewhat normal if he is kept on a tight leash by a skilled director. But of course, you may also go in the other direction and write a story that requires him to go completely unhinged. That’s what happens here, and for once it actually works.

David Chamberlain (Joel Kinnaman) has just parked his car in the basement of the hospital in Las Vegas where his wife, who has previously lost a child, is undergoing another complicated birth, when a stranger gets into the back seat, threatens him with a gun, and asks him to drive. They then leave Las Vegas, which looks like an inside hint to Cage’s Oscar movie, for the stranger with the gun is of course Nicolas Cage, and he is batshit crazy.

And then some.

To avoid spoilers I'll just add that the story, which could have been written by Quentin Tarantino, takes an unexpected turn during the long drive. It’s tense and really good entertainment, and Joel Kinnaman is a fine straight man to Cage’s unpredictable psychopath character that will certainly delight his many fans.