PIG

The critics gave the thumbs up to this weird film, especially Nicholas Cage's performance.

If I was being unkind I might attribute this to what I call Prodigal Son Syndrome i.e. critics going overboard if a director or actor turns in a half-decent performance after a series of duds.

But you have to hand it to Cage, it's hard to imagine anyone else being able to make this slight but ridiculous story anywhere near believable, let alone get you to be emotionally invested.

Cage is Robin, a magnificent chef, once the toast of Portland, who for many years has lived as a recluse in the woods following the death of his wife Lori.  His only companion is a pig who hunts out the best truffles, which are sold to a young guy called Amir.

Unfortunately the pig is stolen, which drives Robin to the desperate act (for him) of returning to Portland to try to retrieve his pig, with Amir reluctantly in tow. 

We then get some rather odd encounters, the strangest of which involves some kind of fight club for restaurant folk. 

Eventually Robin learns that his pig was stolen by men working for Amir's father, Darius.

The climax of the film is Robin preparing the same meal for Darius that he prepared for Darius and his wife many years ago, apparently one of the very few occasions Darius and his wife were happy together.  Amir's mother is now in a coma in a care facility.

Darius starts eating the meal but quickly breaks down and admits that the pig was injured during its theft and is now dead.

Robin is very upset to hear this (even though, we have also learned, Robin is quite capable of finding truffles without the pig) and returns to his cabin.

So what is this all about?  The answer I guess is grief.  Robin's grief in relation to Lori, primarily, though Amir and Darius also have grief issues as well.

The film is the directorial debut of Michael Sarnoski who also wrote it.  It's an impressive achievement although it times I did find it a bit on the slow side.

To end on a somewhat flippant note Amir pointedly remarks early on that Robin's cabin could do with a shower being installed.  Given that during the rest of the film it seems pretty clear that Robin isn't changing his clothes, or taking a shower or a bath, I was surprised that no one, including the customers at a swanky restaurant, comments on his personal hygiene, to the point where I began to find this implausibility downright distracting.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do