Las Vegas cops Jim Stone (Nicolas Cage) and David Waters (Elijah form an unlikely team as they put together a plan to break into a safe belonging to a heroin dealer, in this quirky, twisted take on the heist movie. They’re bad boy cops, breaking the law for their own benefit and you might be surprised just how far they are willing to go and just how dark the story becomes. It might be part comedy, buddy-cop movie, but it’s also a neo-noir thriller.

I’ve always been a fan of Nicolas Cage. But his film over the past ten years have been patchy. Cage must often wonder where his next great script is coming from.His current form is very hit-and-miss. For an Oscar winning actor this must be disappointing.The problem for Cage, at the age of 50,is what do you do? Do you still want to be an action star? He has to keep in mind that The Rock,Face/Off and Con Air, his three biggest commercial action hits are all 20 years old now. Can he still be the action man? Or does he want to be in films such as Adaptation, Matchstick Men, The Weatherman and Bad Lieutenant, all cleverly written films, full of dark humour and films that allow him to actually act?

The Trust is somewhere in the middle. There’s action, but there is also clever plotting and intrigue. It’s a good fit for his skills and although it’s fairly slowly paced it is one of his better films and performances in recent years.

As for Elijah Wood, it’s a tricky situation for him also. He’s been in three of the highest grossing films ever made… as the lead star no less. He can never reach these heights again, can he? He’s always been a star, but not especially at the front of the film. He certainly got his big break in the Lord of the Rings films and he will forever be remembered fondly as a Hobbit, but he’ll never be up for a role agains the like of Ryan Reynolds. He’s just not that kind of actor, or person.

The writing and direction by the debuting sibling team of Alex and Benjamin Brewer is slick, without being flashy. It’s an assured debut for the brothers and they must be very pleased to have been able to work with two very respected, talented and knowledgeable stars in Cage and Wood. You perhaps don’t think of writers and directors learning from actors, it is perhaps expected to be the other way around, but Alex and Benjamin Brewer must have been delighted to have two A-List stars sign onto their project.

The Trust is a great film for both Cage and Wood, who work well together. An odd couple, certainly, but they are both fantastic character actors. The Trust is funny, surprising, darker than you might expect and well worth a watch.

Author : Kevin Stanley