Nic Cage - His Finest Female Co-Stars
Five women who've made a good fist of going toe-to-toe with the former Mr Coppola.
Nic Cage - he of the bizarre career choices and the excitable manner -has shared the screen with some extraordinary women over the years. Here are five favourites...
Alison Lohman - Very good in Where The Truth Lies, White Oleander and Drag Me To Hell, the then-27-year-old Lohman is quite astonishing as Nicolas Cage's teenager daughter in Matchstick Men (above), Ridley 'Gladiator' Scott's crisp con man saga in which the entire cast is superb and nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Kathleen Turner - She can be a bit frightening these days (John Waters: “Working with Kathleen’s like going to jail - show no fear and you’ll do great”) but Ms Turner was charm personified in Peggy Sue Got Married, a delightful time-travel picture directed by Nic's uncle, the multiple Academy Award-winner Francis Ford Coppola.
Bridget Moynahan - Lord Of War was both a great film and a fine vehicle for Cage and his eccentric acting style. Andrew 'Gattaca' Niccol's arms sales study also made superb use of Moynahan, a stunning Irish-American actress who's otherwise been wasted in everything from Serendipity and I, Robot to Sex And The City.
Elizabeth Shue - For all the talk about Cage’s eccentricities, when the moment takes him, he’s quite the actor. Did the deserve an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas? On the balance of things, yes. But so did Ms Shue, who turns a Hollywood cliche - the whore with a heart of gold - into someone who’s real in ways Mr Cage often isn’t.
Penelope Cruz - Captain Corelli's Mandolin was clearly made with one eye on the Oscars. This is a great shame since, had director John Madden concentrated on the job in hand, he might have made a better picture. That said Ms Cruz has never been so explosively attractive. No wonder they named a missile after her...