When we first meet Pig’s protagonist Rob (Nicolas Cage), he is living off the grid deep in a Pacific Northwest forest. Rob hunts truffles with his beloved pig. Once a week, Amir (Alex Wolff), a hustler from Portland, arrives to buy the week’s harvest. That is Rob’s only interaction with the human race, and he prefers not to converse with Amir. Rob is filthy, even in comparison to the pig.
When the pig is kidnapped (or pignapped?), Rob forces Amir to drive him into and around Portland on a quest to rescue the pig. As the quest continues, we learn some surprising things about Rob.
Initially, we would assume that Rob, with his crazy homeless guy look, is a broken man, withdrawing from society because a trauma, a failure, a mental breakdown or an addiction has sapped him of his abilities. It turns out that Rob has suffered a loss, but we’re surprised to learn that Rob is revered by an entire community within Portland. In personal grief, and motivated by his assessment of a coming environmental apocalypse, he has chosen to withdraw. He may LOOK like a deranged derelict, but, when he chooses to be, he is very functional.
Pig is the first feature for writer-director Michael Sarnoski, and it’s pretty entertaining.
Sarnoski has created an extreme character in Rob, and who is better at extreme characters than Nicolas Cage? This is Cage’s best performance in years. Rob is a man with a firm beliefs and a rigid code – and he takes them to their logical extremes, however uncomfortable they seem, and Cage credibly shows us a character with resolute self-assurance and impressive skills.
Alex Wolff is suitably annoying as the callow and loquacious Amir, who fashions himself more of a player than he really is. Amir is smart enough to know that he is no match for his father Darius – a very serious guy. Adam Arkin plays Darius’ ruthlessness (and his one vulnerability) convincingly.
Pig is streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Hulu and redbox.