Nicolas Cage Series #4 - Birdy / #5 - The Boy in Blue

Alright, a double on the Nicolas Cage marathon (though not really).

Birdy (1984, Parker)

Birdy is an unexpectedly emotional film about the friendship between two boys, Al (Nicolas Cage) and 'Birdy' (Matthew Mondine), told through flashbacks as Al tries to get Birdy to open up in a mental hospital. Both were drafted in the Vietnam War, and Al, still recovering from severe facial wounds, is sent to try and save Birdy, who has stopped communicating since he came back. We learn that Birdy has been obsessed with birds and flying for all of his life, and when Al first meets him, it's a strange hobby. But as they grow older he gets more and more obsessed and withdraws from society, and when he sees him after the war, it seems like he really thinks he's a bird.

It's really moving, seeing how isolated Birdy feels throughout his life; Al is his only friend. By the time they meet again, Al is almost as broken as Birdy; his face is healing, but he's not dealing well with the possibility of being disfigured and the trauma of the war in general. I was honestly surprised about how involved I got into the story; Parker really does a good job of helping you understand Birdy and why Al is so loyal to him.

However, it's almost completely ruined by the flippant, out of nowhere ending. The last act ramps up the drama as Al tries to save Birdy from being stuck in a mental hospital for the rest of his life as he worries that he'll be thrown in there also, and then it just...ends. Seriously. Abruptly, and in a way that would seem comedic if we hadn't been watching a drama for the last two hours. I mean, really? It's still worth watching, but it would be so much better if the ending wasn't so fucking flippant.

Fortunately for the next movie I watched, I didn't have such a big problem with the end.

The Boy in Blue (1986, Jarrot)

Unfortunately, that's because I didn't get there. The Boy in Blue is a typical rise from nowhere to fame sports movie about sculling set in the 1870s. Sculling is some sort of boat racing (it's similar to crew, except really kind of only for one person instead of a team), and it's pretty fucking boring. There's really no attempt to make it seem interesting in any way, so why should I care? Cage is playing the offbeat chick-fucking decent guy with something special that he's played in Valley Girl and the flashback parts of Birdy, but it's really out of place in the 1870s. I lasted maybe 45 minutes, hoping that something would differentiate this from every rags to fame sports movie movie ever, but it really didn't, so I have to admit that I gave up. Don't even bother with this one.