Age of Cage

An insightful, funny, and singular look at the career and life of Nicolas Cage, perfect for fans of The Tao of Bill Murray, Chris Nashawaty's Caddyshack, and Cary Elwes's As You Wish

Born into the fiercely creative and competitive Coppola family, Nic grows up surrounded by film and art, eventually being cast in his first two films by his uncle Francis. Nic likes his first taste of stardom but wants to shed the burden of his famous uncle and so takes the name Cage.

And we're off. Nic bursts onto the film scene like a Brando or De Niro-heralded as one of the most fiercely talented and dedicated actors of his age. And he drives his costars nuts with his method acting. He goes on to dominate Academy Award-winning dramas, romantic comedies, 90s action blockbusters, national treasure film franchises, and the direct to video-on-demand world we have today.

And his personal life is just as juicy: he marries Lisa Marie Presley after starring in Honeymoon in Vegas; he buys a private island and a T. rex skull, only to go bankrupt. The man has a huge tomb ready for his departure from earth in the same New Orleans cemetery as Jim Morrison and Edgar Allan Poe.

Through firsthand interviews with cast and friends, former A.V. Club reporter Keith Phipps traces the enigmatic icon's career to reveal the real man behind the myth and in doing so chronicles the transformation of Hollywood itself.

Age of Cage, like the man himself, is surprising, insightful, funny, and one of a kind.