A man jumps in the back of another man’s car while he’s on the phone with his pregnant wife who is in delivery. Soon, it turns to a hostage situation with a lot of discussion and discoveries.
Written by Luke Paradise and directed by Yuval Adler, Sympathy for the Devil takes this premise and gives it the Nic Cage treatment. The story here is simple, on the surface, with two men in a car, driving who knows where, one having the other at gunpoint to do his bidding. That’s the basic of it, for the first third at least. Then they get to a dine, things get crazier, and in the last third, things get turned around. The story moves at a good pace even though a lot of it is talking, giving plenty of time for the leads to get into their characters and for things to develop as they must. This is the kind of film some will adore, and some will absolutely hate based on the premise, pacing, and acting.
In terms of acting, the leads are Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman who is almost hard to recognize at first. They both really get into their characters, giving strong performances that do go off the rails here and there, but that is exactly what the movie needs here. Cage, in particular, is given full freedom to go “full Cage” and go hammy at times and extreme at others, letting him really have fun with the part, which has been the best way to get the best performances from him in the last few years. When you hire Cage, like when you watch Cage, there is something that is expected, and he delivers exactly that here. Kinnaman delivers a good counterpart performance, going in the opposite direction for most of the movie, giving someone for Cage to bounce off of. The two of them together are the reason to see this movie, they have a chemistry that is just right for the story.
Let’s talk about the technical things for a moment. The film looks fantastic. The lighting, the choices in terms of framing and editing, the way they shot the whole thing, it’s all coherent and brings the movie to live in just the right way. The cinematography by Steven Holleran is great here, something that many films neglect. Giving the film a look of its own, something that works with the insanity and with Cage’s bright red hair. The film knows what look it wants and it goes for it completely.
Sympathy of the Devil is a fun thriller that has some action and some, minimal, horror elements. It’s enjoyable and entertaining, it brings Cage to full capacity, and it gives the viewer something that they can get into from start to finish. The film is one that is easy to pull up at any time, put on, and just go with the flow for those who enjoy the insanity, the full Cage experience, and a film that is well-crafted.