Nicolas Cage has become somewhat of a punchline, albeit a beloved one, in this latter stage of his career, known for starring in bat guano crazy B movies that range from the genius (such as 2018’s Mandy) to the inexplicable (2019’s Primal, for instance). His latest film which also serves as the feature debut for writer/director Michael Sarnoski seems to be following in that same vein. A revenge thriller following a former genius chef who hunts down nefarious figures that have stolen…his truffle pig. Despite the absurdity on the surface level, the film is one of the most heartfelt of the year and a tale of how humans love.
Pig introduces us to Robin “Rob” Feld (Nicolas Cage), a former renowned chef who now lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness as a truffle hunter with his belived foraging pig, making a living by selling his truffle finds to Amir, a young food dealer who drives in from nearby Portland. After his prized truffle pig is stolen during a home invasion of his secluded cabin, Rob must go to the city in search of it while also facing the past he has run away from.
Pig’s marketing in the run up to its release made it seem as if it were just the latest entrant into the new John Wick lone man revenge flick sub genre and on a surface level, the two do share many similarities; a retired, self-exiled legend in an insular industry dealing with the aftershock of grief in isolation with only the love of an animal keeping him from slipping down the razor’s edge into insanity. Despite these parallels, Pig is much more than a cynical facsimile of a proven concept adapted into a new setting. This is ultimately a film about love and memories, as the main characters in the film are all attempting to deal with the grief of a lost loved one. Nicolas Cage gives an understated performance that is powerful in its subtlety. Rob’s soul is obviously a tortured one and Cage is able to convey him as a man hiding pain in an empathetic and intriguing way that keeps the viewer curious to learn more. It is one of his best performances and joins his performances in Mandy and 2019’s Color Out of Space as concrete evidence of his mad genius. Alex Wolff is impressive as Amir, beginning the film as an annoying rich kid, but slowly revealing his depth and own intriguing battle with the demons of his family, both living and not. It is through his character we learn a lesson on grief and forgiveness in relation to familial love and how loss can harden people to accompany Rob’s own tribulations.
This being food set in the world of high end eateries, Pig beautifully and poignantly highlights the therapeutic nature of food and the act of cooking, along with how communal ultimately consuming the end product of said healing session can be. Its climax finds its protagonist and antagonist engaged in a battle of wills not through the conduit of gun barrels but on opposite ends of a dinner table, eating the fruit of Rob’s labor which he made in a bid to win back the last living thing he loves most by appealing to his enemy’s own cuisine based nostalgia. Robin’s strategy is the most succinct depiction of the power of food seen in cinema in quite some time, if ever, brilliantly encapsulating what makes humans so connected to dining together and food in general outside of its test and necessity for sustenance. For the past couple of years, I have embarked upon an informal tour of Washington, D.C.’s Michelin starred restaurants, inviting various friends to enjoy a night of fancy dinners and wine pairings as I embark on trying every restaurant on the famed guide books list for the District. As much as it has been about enjoying the food, the company I had and the resulting good times we shared as we took in the ambiance and enjoyed the chef’s work was as rewarding as the gourmet plates. Pig makes plain that memories and connections, smiles and laughter are all created when we eat together with other people and creating a great meal that you then share with others and see their positive and satisfied reactions develop in real time is one of the most satisfying ways of conveying love that exists for our species.
Pig has very quiet and atmospheric beginning with barely any dialogue as we see Rob go about his life of solitude in the mountains of Oregon. The plot unfolds slowly as we learn more about both him and Amir, their pasts, their families, and their pain. The slow buildup as the pair search for Rob’s prized pig can feel a little tedious during the first act but as Rob begins to open up as a character, so does the film’s entertainment value and its themes. Writer/director Michael Sarnoski has crafted a moving film that examines human nature and the evergreen issues of love, loss, grief, and finding peace somewhere within the nexus of the three. It is an impressive debut that speaks to a part of human existence that lives in us all.
Image: NEON
