With the string of gonzo choices actor Nicolas Cage has been making lately, it’s a fair bet that Pig could easily be miscategorized as a hyperviolent revenge fever dream à la Mandy, or a hyperviolent kitsch-fest à la Willy’s Wonderland. While Cage’s near-mute character Rob shares similar monosyllabic tendencies with his characters in those films (hell, he doesn’t have even a single line in the later example), writer/director Michael Sarnoski’s debut feature imbues Cage’s quiet character with so much more than one might initially expect from a movie that can accurately be summed up as: someone steals Nicolas Cage’s pig.
Cage plays Rob, a grizzled hermit living in the Oregon wilderness with his pig, Pig. Together they hunt for truffles, a fancy restaurant staple, and Rob sells them to Amir (Alex Wolff, Hereditary) who picks them up at Rob’s hovel every Thursday in his swanky suit and gaudy yellow Camaro. One night, a masked couple breaks in and steals Pig, knocking out Rob in the process, leaving a streak of blood down the side of his face that he never washes off and that will be added to throughout the film. This incident sends Rob on an epic journey to Portland to find his pig, with Amir and his yellow Camaro as Rob’s ride and only connection. This seemingly silly concept is never treated as such, and instead is the foundation for a noir-ish meditation on love and loss.
Rob’s search for Pig brings him back into a world he all but disappeared from 15 years ago, a world of high cuisine and cutthroat competition that most of us are only familiar with via the Food Network. But Sarnoski’s wide lens slowly uncovers Rob’s past and the life he left behind, the seediness and corruption between suppliers, and the phony pretension in the bubbles of scallop foam, while also savoring the brilliance of a simple salted baguette. All the while, Wolff’s buttoned-up Amir begins to find that it is not just his family name and expensive tastes that are opening doors, but the unwashed, bloody-faced Rob’s reputation that garners the most respect.
Of course, all of this plot pontificating wouldn’t be possible without the sparse but elegant script from Sarnoski and Vanessa Block, and the uniformly excellent performances from Cage and Wolff, along with the entire supporting cast. Shot in and around Portland, the sometimes stunning, sometimes subtle cinematography captures the beauty of the area, providing an epic backdrop for Rob’s odyssey. Pig is the film Cage does once every five to 10 years, between all the wacky fun ones, that reminds those of us who might’ve forgotten what a renaissance man he truly is. Broken into three parts, this tight 90-minute movie might not be what you’d normally expect from Cage, but it should also come as no surprise. Available to rent on Amazon.
