Review of Drive Angry (2011) by Joshua B — 30 Dec 2011

Make no mistake. Drive Angry is not by any definition a "good" movie. But if the title, "Drive Angry: Shot in 3D" doesn't give some indication of the sheer awesome grindhouse absurdity of this movie, consider that the plot involves Nicolas Cage breaking out of Hell -- which is played as a plot twist despite the fact that the movie opens by showing him doing so -- to save his baby granddaughter from a satanic cult, and enlisting the help of a Hemi-driving diner waitress along the way.

This is a movie that revels in its glorious ridiculousness from start to finish, from the way Cage gives a performance so typically over-the-top Cage that you can't tell whether he's in on the joke, to how impressively straight Amber Heard plays it.

William Fichtner, who plays "The Accountant," an agent of Hell tasked with retrieving escaped souls, chews up so much scenery that his Walken-esque delivery alone is reason enough to watch this movie.

But if that's not enough to convince you, know also that the villain sports a BlackBerry Pearl flip phone and a walking stick made from the femur bone of Nic Cage's daughter. Still not sold? How about a scene in which Cage engages in a close-range firefight with several thugs while wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses, holding a 40 of whiskey in one hand and smoking a cigarette, without once letting this interrupt the fact that this is all taking place WHILE he is having sex.

It's a scene (and a movie) you have to see to believe.