Yahoo! Movies recently did a segment called “Con Hair: Defining the ’Do’s of Nicholas Cage.” Over the years, Cage has had so many weird haircuts in his numerous films that I wonder if he takes the same advice that Rainn Wilson once spoke of. Wilson said that to develop a character, he starts with the hair first and goes from there. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cage took the role in “Bangkok Dangerous” simply for the weird haircut.
In this film, the haircut is the lead performance.
If there is a character underneath that mop of hair, it exists only in subtext. Cage plays a hit-man named Joe. This guy is so stoic that it seems the writers only outlined the shell of a character, and forgot to fill the inside with all sorts of compelling developments. Joe travels to Bangkok, taking up four assassination jobs. He avoids emotional attachments at all costs, for he views them as a distraction and a danger to his profession. Is it a surprise to find that Joe will break his rule by falling in love and making a friend before the end credits roll? No. It’s not surprising if one is familiar with movie clichés.
Michael Mann’s “Heat” also had a character like Joe. But the difference there was that “Heat” was truly interested in the stoic criminal’s empty heart. “Bangkok Dangerous” is only half-interested in that respect. This film relies too heavily on style, which becomes a distraction. Mood music and stylish cinematography can bring power to the screen, but they cannot act as the engine that pulls the rest of the film. “Bangkok Dangerous” is one of those movies that is in love with tinting every night shot blue. This effect has been done so many times that the coolness factor is wearing off. I’m waiting for a cinematographer to reinvent the blue-tinted night shot by tinting everything pink. Blue isn’t everything in storytelling.
The movie does have one nice moment, and it involves the love story. Joe meets a deaf woman working in a pharmacy, and shares with her a quiet and tender scene. He tries to explain to her what kind of medicine he needs, and she responds with gentleness in her non-verbal response. That one scene acts as a breath of fresh air in this dreary film. For a film that has cheerless action and a shallow hero, that scene feels like it belongs in a better movie. It’s the one scene where the haircut isn’t the lead attraction.
