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Nicolas Cage came by his acting talent quite easily. After all, his uncle is an Academy Award winning director, and his Aunt is an award winning actress. If you can’t place the director and actress, they are Francis Ford Coppola, and Talia Shire. Cage changed his name early in his career to make his own mark on the entertainment field. He has won an Oscar, and a Golden Globe (Both for his role in Leaving Las Vegas 1995).

Raising Arizona (1987)

Cage portrays H.I. McDonnough, a former holdup man, who marries a policewoman. (Holly Hunter in a marvelous comic turn) It turns out that H.I, and Edwina (Ed) are unable to have a child of their own, so when Ed sees in the paper that the wife of Millionaire Nathan Arizona has just given birth to quintuplets, the pair figure that one baby won’t be missed. Guess what – the baby is missed. Arizona hires a motorcycle riding bounty hunter, (Randall “Tex” Cobb) to track down the kidnappers. John Goodman and William Forsythe play two brothers that H.I. knew in prison. They have managed to break out in time for the slapstick hijinks. This comedy was written and directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen.

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Cage won his Academy Award for Best Actor for this dramatic turn as Ben Sanderson. An alcoholic screenwriter, Sanderson has come to Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death. His drinking has caused him to lose his wife, his job, and his possessions. He takes a large severance check and heads to Las Vegas. There he meets a prostitute named Sera. (Elizabeth Shue) Sera and Ben make a pact. She will not criticize his drinking; he will not berate her chosen profession. They become friends. This dark film examines the human condition.

Face/Off (1997)

This is an action film with some sci-fi elements. Cage portrays criminal mastermind Castor Troy. For years, he has played a cat and mouse game with FBI agent, Sean Archer. (John Travolta) When Troy is captured in a shootout with Archer and his team, he refers to a massive bomb planted somewhere In L.A. The FBI Black Ops team has new technology that will allow Archer to impersonate Troy; literally grafting his face surgically on Archer. When Troy wakes up after the switch, he forces the medical team to give him Archer’s face, and the game is on. Both actors had to play their original characters in the first part of the film, and then switch midway through. The film was helmed by Action Director John Woo.

City of Angels (1998)

In this film, we learn that Angels walk among us. Cage portrays Seth, an Angel who shows up when a patient of heart surgeon Dr. Maggie Rice, (Meg Ryan) dies. He allows Maggie to see him, and as he talks to her, he begins to fall for her. He learns from Messinger (Dennis Franz) who was once an Angel, that Seth can choose to give up his powers and become human. A heartwarming story of love and sacrifice.

National Treasure (2004)

In this action adventure, Cage is Benjamin Franklin Gates, a treasure hunter who comes from a family of treasure seekers. Along with his friend Riley Poole, (Justin Bartha) and Dr. Abigail Chase, (Diane Kruger) an expert in historical documents, Ben discovers that there are clues to a massive treasure on the back of the Declaration of Independence. When Ben looks for the treasure, his former friend and colleague Ian Howe, (Sean Bean) attempts to find it first, and discredit Ben in the process. Meanwhile, FBI agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) is on the trail of them all.