Sonny (2002)

Number Rolled: 9

Movie Name/Year: Sonny (2002)

Genre: Drama

Length: 110 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Nicolas Cage

Writer: John Carlen

Actors: James Franco, Brenda Blethyn, Harry Dean Stanton, Mena Suvari, Seymour Cassel, Brenda Vaccaro, Josie Davis, Willie Metcalf, Janet Shea, Cary Wilmot Alden, Nicolas Cage, Scott Caan, Graham Timbes, Wallace Merck, Doug Barden

James Franco plays Sonny in the one and, so far, only film directed by Nicolas Cage. Sonny is a veteran just out of the army and going home. In an effort to escape his past as a prostitute, he begins to try and get a straight job. As much as he would like to become “square,” he finds it to be a much more difficult process than he initially figured. Weighing his own wants against his loyalty to his mother and the easy road against the hard, Sonny travels down a path that could change his life forever or lead him right back where he didn’t want to be.

There’s a very good reason that Nicolas Cage has only directed one film. Sonny is that reason. To be honest, I don’t know where to file this movie away in my brain. It was a little like watching porn with a lot of story line. I saw James Franco’s ass more in this movie than I saw his face. Ok, that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point.

The storyline wasn’t terrible. There are a lot of movies depicting prostitutes wanting out of the business, but just taking that lead role and twisting it to be from a male perspective is relatively unique. I would have liked it more if it weren’t quite so predictable. The ending was amazing, though. It reminded me a bit of In Bruges.

I’m not a spectacularly big James Franco fan. In fact, I tend to prefer his underrated brother, Dave Franco. That being said, I don’t think any other actor could have come as close to saving this movie as J. Franco did. His depiction of emotional turmoil kept me from hating the movie as much as I could have.

If you’re a fan of the actors or the director, it’s not a bad movie to watch once. It’s got some good parts, but I wouldn’t expect anything more than mediocre from it.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

Addendum – I was discussing this movie with a friend. She’d asked me what movie I watched for tonight’s blog. I told her and she said she hadn’t seen it until I said, “The one and only movie directed by Nicolas Cage starring James Franco’s butt.” Immediately she recognized it, asked me if that was the movie where he played a prostitute and said, “it was… special….” Take that as you will.