5 Essential Nicolas Cage Movies Every Fan Needs to See
Actor Nicolas Cage has played a lot of memorable characters over the years. From criminals to FBI agents to superheroes to screenwriters to vampires to professors, he has played a broad number of roles in his movies. Those movie roles have earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and numerous other award nominations. The movies themselves have won numerous awards as well. Here is a look at five Cage essentials that every movie fan should see.
5) “Raising Arizona” (1987)
“Raising Arizona” is an eccentric, screwball comedy that features Cage as a not-so-reformed ex-con who marries the female police officer (Holly Hunter) who keeps taking his mugshots when he is arrested. When they figure out that they cannot have kids or adopt, they end up stealing one of the newborn quintuplets of a local furniture magnate. While this is not one of the Coen brothers’ most focused efforts, it offers plenty of laughs.
4) “Adaptation” (2002)
“Adaptation” is such a bizarre and wonderful movie. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman based the film on his real-life struggles to adapt the novel “The Orchid Thief” while battling writer’s block. He added numerous fictional elements, such as having a twin brother, and turned the whole ordeal into an award-winning masterpiece. The ensemble cast featured Cage as Charlie and Donald Kaufman, as well as Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and a host of other big -name actors. Cage received an Academy Award nomination for his role as the twins.
3) “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986)
One would not think that time travel would work well in a romantic comedy, but “Peggie Sue Got Married” definitely defied that notion. The film seemed doomed from the start, with original lead Debra Winger and two directors, Jonathan Demme and Penny Marshall, quitting the project. Cage didn’t even want the role of the lecherous boyfriend, Charlie, but his uncle, Francis Coppola, who took over as director, talked him into it. Kathleen Turner was lauded for her portrayal of the title character, and the film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
2) “City of Angels” (1998)
The romantic fictional drama “City of Angels” saw Cage play the role of an angel who falls in love and wishes to give up his immortality to pursue the object of his affections, surgeon Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan). He was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in Drama/Romance and an MTV Movie Award with Ryan for Best On-Screen Duo.
1) “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995)
“Leaving Las Vegas” was Cage‘s magnum opus. He won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a SAG, and numerous film critic organization awards. The movie sees him play an alcoholic screenwriter named Ben Sanderson who has lost everything and decides to move to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. Instead, Sanderson connects with a prostitute named Sera (Elizabeth Shue), and a tragic, doomed relationship is born.
Nicolas Cage’s Lasting Legacy
Choosing just five movies to represent Cage’s silver screen legacy is no easy task. He has played so many roles in action staples, cult favorites, romantic dramas, and screwball comedies that defining him by any five films does not do him justice. From “The Rock” to “Moonstruck” to “Wild at Heart” to “Mandy” to “Face/Off” to “Renfield” to “National Treasure,” his movies show that he can play a wide variety of roles well.
For an actor who has been so prolific over his five decades of work, everyone will have their own personal favorites. However, one cannot go wrong with any of the five selected here. You can check out Cage in 2026 as celebrated football coach and color commentator John Madden in the Amazon/MGM biopic “Madden.”
