Subtle, calculated, and subdued are not generally words that I use to describe a Nicolas Cage performance; but, here we are with Pig and there are no other words beside "brilliant" to describe it.
Pig is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. In all honesty, I decided that I liked the movie within the first thirty seconds and it just got better.
Cage's performance is more than Oscar worthy. When you find somebody who is instinctually over the top, bombastic, and cartoonish who you can also get to bottle all of that up and only show what he needs to, that's when you get a masterful performance in cinema.
The direction and the writing are great. This could have turned into a John Wick thing pretty easily; but, at no point does a person give up any information to our protagonist under threat of violence. Everything is psychological and character driven.
The cinematography is nearly perfect. There isn't a single shot in this movie that felt out of place or that it was just coverage. This wasn't a mega-budget movie; so, there weren't any sexy lighting gags or anything. It was just perfectly designed shot by shot.
I know that I saw a 9:10pm showing on a Wednesday; but, it's kinda sad that I had the theater to myself. This was a masterwork. I could reach and find a few details to nitpick; but, it's not worth it.
It's a great movie. Go see it.
To nip any follow-up inquires about my review of Pig in the bud, yes, I would rank Nicolas Cage's performance up there with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. I'd put it side by side with a few performances from Gary Oldman and Daniel Day Lewis. That's how good he was.