Nicolas Cage directed, "Sonny" is a title to be remembered as a past time to the Ryan Gosling "esk" movies of yesterday. Featured as a dark horse humor of the deep south, with the contrast of the all to familiar promiscuous and underworld venues of "The Bad Lieutenant," James Franco puts on the convincing mask of a '1980s Nawlins" trick turner. Very independent and distant from his present day roles, Franco's performance is raw and distinguished. The plot is as simple as it is compelling. Despite this little known title, for those movie goers with the need and appetite for films of Leaving Las Vegas magnitude, "Sonny" is the enthralling feature to curb your hunger. If your search for a cinematic hallmark leads you here, I urge you to venture elsewhere. The simplicity and brutish complexion of this early 2000s artwork makes it an appealing plunge for viewers of unassuming admiration. "Better than Spiderman, not as good as 127," gage as you see fit.

Sonny is one of those small great films that makes me recover my faith on the seventh art.Nicholas Cage give us a film full of pain, rage, passion, love and with a little option to the hope.a portrait of the suffering that produces a clear lack of hope.The leading role lies on the great James Franco(the best actor of his generation) he plays to the haunted and dreamer Sonny.He is supported by great actors as Harry Dean Stanton,Mena Suvari, Seymour Cassel, Brenda Blethyn and Scott Cann( son of the legendary James Cann).This film gives a lot for very little and that is the best thing that can happen to a movie lover. Since the first time I saw the trailer I knew I was going to love the film and it didn't disappoint me.

I'll be honest, my reasoning for renting this was to watch Franco's performance. I'm coming to respect his talent and the roles he chooses; intelligent.So I watched the trailer and thought that it might stink. I held my breath. All I can say is 'wow'. This movie is gritty and intense and lacks the Hollywood gloss - which I loved. It's REAL. It's not pretty. It's life. I've been kicking around the idea of pursuing acting and high-tailing it to a good school, so I watched all the performer's in this like a hawk. I really did. And I couldn't see the acting. It blew me away. Everyone, down to the bit parts were spot on. Watch their eyes, everyone gives that honesty that you don't see the actor's...you loose yourself in the characters despite yourself. So I really resonated with one writer's comment on here that this is an actor's film. If you're looking for Hollywood this isn't it. I will be seeking out more Indie's now, and checking out that scene. Besides Franco, I was equally impressed with H.D. Stanton; his kitchen scene was another one of those 'wows' for me. When the movie was over I just sat there and realized what a surprise of a film it wound up being. I expected, I don't know what I expected really, but certainly not that. For anyone who hasn't seen it: if you're into character study and performance, it's worth it. If you're looking for simple entertainment, it won't hold you and you'll be disappointed.This was the first time I went back and watched a movie with the commentary on, I watched it with the writer's commentary first (which is hilarious at some points and cracked me up) and then with Nic's. I enjoyed both. N.*btw, I forgot to mention also that I thought the music was great also. The classical pieces were a good touch, Ring of Fire has been in my head for days and is driving me nuts; the soft theme is just haunting; emotional and tender. Subtly tragic and lonely, like the film itself. Some people might not really get this movie. I thought it was quite powerful.

This isn't a bad looking film and the performances are all fairly effective but once the first 30 or so minutes have passed you've pretty much seen what this has to offer. Story takes place in New Orleans in 1981 where Sonny Phillips (James Franco) has just been discharged from the Army with the hopes of finding a job someplace but his mother wants him to come back to what she taught him. Jewel (Brenda Blethyn) is an ex-prostitute who taught her son the same thing and he was very popular for the wealthy older ladies in the area. Jewel has a young girl named Carol (Mena Suvari) working for her and even though she has a number of tricks every day she still talks about getting out of the business and living a normal life. Also living with Jewel but just as a renter is long time friend Henry (Harry Dean Stanton) who has lent a helping hand for the both of them.*****SPOILER ALERT*****Sonny doesn't want to go back to being a prostitute but when he is unable to get a job he seems to have no other resources in life and at times gets very angry after finishing with a customer. He becomes very jaded and remorseful and when Carol suggests that they go off together and start a new life he can't even bring himself to admit that it's possible for such a thing to happen.This film marks the directorial debut of actor Nicolas Cage and while he does show that he can tell a story at a good pace the main flaw comes from the script itself. This story is very reminiscent of the ambiguous neo-realism films from Italy and France of the 50's and 60's in which the script just allows us to watch Sonny slowly become angry and bitter and to allow prostitution to inevitably become his unfortunate life. Critics point out that the film doesn't offer any insight to Sonny and instead we see the usual clichés and one can't deny that those flaws are evident but there are some good things that should be noticed in Cage's direction. One is the solid performances he gets by all of his actors and I think Blethyn's Southern accent isn't to bad but I think Suvari gives arguably the most effective performance in the film. There is some of the usual prostitute with a heart of gold in the script but when she begs for Sonny to say something positive about their future while it's pouring rain it reminded me that she is indeed one of the more talented young actresses out there. Cage also gives the film a more sordid look at what was going on around Bourbon St. during the early 80's and I found the mood to be pretty effective. But the script doesn't give you anything fresh to view and for the most part the characters just seem to be going through the motions of the films actions. This isn't a bad film and Cage seems to have some talent as a director but this is still a script that fails to be revealing.