MOVING PICTURES

PIG IS A DEEP, QUIET, SMALL FEAST OF A FILM

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

Pig wraps a small story with a few characters in a short film — almost exactly 90 minutes — that belies its rotund title. Just like at the butcher shop, scale is everything for this film called Pig, and it’s this concentration of just a few powerful elements bound by an intimate tale of grief and revenge that gives the movie its deep, complex and melancholic tone. These same structures also help to ground Nicolas Cage’s lead performance as a misanthropic, but legendary chef on a mission to find his stolen truffle pig. Critics and movie buffs took to social media when the enigmatic Pig title and the barest details about the story were first announced. We openly fantasized about what sounded like a John Wick film that substituted Cage for Keanu and a porker for his pup. Some of this speculation was fueled by Cage’s recent turns in films like Mandy (2017), which found a psychedelics-and-alcohol-fueled Nic on a bloody rampage against a death cult motorcycle gang. Cage delivered another bonkers performance in Richard Stanley’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space (2019).

Given Cage’s recent track record it was easy to expect big and bloody things from Pig, but that’s not the case: Robin Feld lives in the woods outside of Portland, Ore. He shares a very primitive cabin with a prized truffle pig. Feld has long white hair and a bushy beard, and he’s mistaken for being someone with no place to live throughout the film. Like many people who experience various levels of challenge with housing, Feld’s struggles begin with a heartbreaking loss that results in career ending depressive grief and a retreat from society. Feld takes comfort in the company of his sweet and snorty pig who assists Feld in foraging the very valuable truffles he sells to Amir.

Amir is a hustling young entrepreneur making a name for himself in the Portland restaurant scene as a purveyor of specialty ingredients. Amir’s dad is actually the kingpin of this racket in Portland, but he has no confidence in Amir and their relationship has soured since the suicide of Amir’s mother. Pig takes viewers on a quest after Feld’s pig is stolen in the middle of the night. We sit at dining tables in the best restaurants in the city, we visit drug addicts in run down trailers on the edge of the woods. Pig takes us into a kind of masochistic underground fight club, but also into the grand entryways in the homes of the wealthy and dangerous.

Pig is a quiet, weird movie, but Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut is so confident in its pacing and tone that we never got distracted or felt like the movie was losing its way. Patrick Scola’s less-is-more lensing of the gorgeous Pacific Northwest landscape is all pointed treetops, placid rivers and pitch black fungi. And there’s not a false note from Sarnoski’s small cast or the screenplay the director wrote from a story he conceived with fellow Yale University filmmaker, Vanessa Block. Cage barely has any dialog in this movie, but he reminds viewers that he’s always been capable of quiet nuanced roles when he’s taken them. Alex Wolff holds his own with the Academy Award Winner, becoming Feld’s reluctant sidekick and ultimately creating a connection between Feld and the world he left behind. Adam Arkin is always a strong addition to any cast, and he plays Amir’s conceited and criminal father with equal parts menace and melancholy.

Pig deserves its buzz and it's one of the best films of the year for me. Do yourself a favor and watch this one with a thoughtfully prepared meal. This story is arranged by chapters named for recipes, and all the slow motion gourmet food preparation in Pig makes it ideal for your next dinner-and-a-movie-at-home date night. Pig is available on demand on multiple streaming platforms.

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.