Review of Trespass (2011) by Donna L — 18 Mar 2012

Crazy Nic Cage is back in this humdrum home invasion thriller.

It's got to the point where distributors just don't seem to know what to do with Cage anymore. This was sneaked out straight to DVD in Europe almost a year after a very limited US release. On the other hand the awful "Justice" was released here last year but is only now getting a US release under the new title "Seeking Justice". Presumably the name change is designed to distance it from the awful reviews it received under the original title.

We've seen this sort of thing countless times from "Key Largo" to last year's "Mother's Boys". Cage is a diamond dealer who lives in a mansion with an enormous safe. Thinking said safe is filled with loot, a bunch of nasty types take him and Kidman hostage, along with their precocious daughter who seems to be the only intelligent character involved. We get lots of guns pointed at heads and an assortment of knives and syringes hidden behind backs.

The reason Mendelsohn needs the money is to pay off drug dealers so he and his drug-addled stripper girlfriend can make a clean start in Mexico. That's the level of characterization we're dealing with here.

This is one of Cage's more restrained performances but only because he spends most of it lying on the floor. We do get one crazy speech were he gives the thieves an impromptu lesson in the diamond trade. Kidman just looks embarassed throughout.

Schumacher is sinking deeper into bottom shelf obscurity with each new project. I doubt he'll ever hit the highs of "Falling Down" again.