“Rage” an Unconvincing Rampage on Blu-ray

Paul Maguire (Cage) on a rampage

RAGE boxart

 

Managing to keep his slate full, Nicholas Cage stars in Rage, a crime action film that shows its indie face with an unconvincing story, uneven direction and amateurish support acting.  The one man show gets no help from a script that’s all over the place and actors who seem that they are participating for a paycheck.  Now on Blu-ray and DVD the film has a good look on the home screen, but keeping the adults entertained may be an uphill battle.  Keep the snack bowl filled and your favorite libation nearby, you’ll need both for this film with a ‘lemon’ twist.  

The story centers on Paul Maguire (Cage) who has recovered from his days as a criminal and moved nicely into society with his beautiful new wife Vanessa (Rachel Nichols).  A very respectable construction company owner, Paul has a lot going for him with a contract from the city to build the waterfront into an upscale restaurant and bar area. Leaving his house for a special event, he tells his teenage daughter Caitlin (Aubrey Peeples) that he wants her to be on her best behavior with the two boys, Mike (Max Fowler) and Evan (Jack Falahee), she has invited over. He even takes one of them aside and lets him know he means business.

Nick Cage as Paul Mcguire and Rachel Nichols as Vanessa
Nick Cage as Paul Maguire and Rachel Nichols as Vanessa

While at the event, Paul gets called outside where Det. Peter St. John (Danny Glover) tells him that his daughter has been abducted from his home. After a warning by St. John not to take the situation into his own hands and let the police handle it, he races home to find the two boys that were with his daughter badly beaten.  They tell him it was a home invasion by three men with ski masks and that they took Caitlin.  When the police inform him that they have very little to go on, Paul decides to meet with a couple ex-cons he worked with in the past.

Paul Maguire (Cage) on a rampage
Paul Maguire (Cage) on a rampage

Paul finds that the going rough, yet still tries to keep his cool. First time directing a major star, Paco Cabezas cuts his teeth on this crime thriller. Unfortunately the script has a wishy-washy plot that’s all over the place.  Trying to involve the full talent pool, he loses the strength of Cage’s ability to control all the action. He even waters down scenes with side stories that are not necessary or really don’t make sense. His $21 million budget doesn’t go far these days so you can see he struggled to get the best locations that would fit his action scenes, but comes up short in that department.

Unfortunately the gorgeous Rachel Nichols ends up playing a walk on role with no meat to it.  She plays the stepmother who replaces Caitlin’s mom who died of breast cancer.  Not much to motivate her or enough lines to keep her on set, the fine actress does her best to give a decent performance.  In some scenes she actually looked embarrassed instead of haggard from her stepdaughter’s abduction. Although she’s aware of Paul’s past, she’s more of a trophy wife that doesn’t know how to support his role of revenge.

Using Danny Glover for his recognizable past really doesn’t help the long time actor to energize his career.  His detective character looks worn out and just rolls over for Paul even though he knows his sordid past.  Cabezas never allows the great actor to show his stuff and for that it’s a pity. Glover rocked in films like the Lethal Weapon series, Death at a Funeral, Shooter and Dreamgirls.

Bonus features include a short ‘making of Rage’, some deleted scenes and alternate beginning and an alternate ending.  The film has not been rated by the MPAA but contains violence and language.

Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Rachel Nichols, Peter Stormare, Danny Glover, Aubrey Peeples, Max Fowler,
Director: Paco Cabezas
MPAA Rating: Unrated, contains violence, language
Genre: Action, Crime
Running Time: 1 hr 38 min    
Video Release Date: August 12, 2014
Original Film Release Date: May 9, 2014
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment

Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com