Over the last decade, Nicolas Cage has devolved into a punchline, almost of his own devising, picking and choosing movies as if he was asking for ridicule, as if he can’t live without mediocrity. His resume is inexplicable; his career is an enigma, the idea of which was mined brilliantly in NBC’s COMMUNITY.

Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for LEAVING LAS VEGAS in 1996 and was nominated for another in 2003 for ADAPTATION (where he’s brilliant). Aside from KICK-ASS (and BAD LIEUTENANT?), I don’t know if he’s been in a good movie since 2003 (NATIONAL TREASURE is good?), and his role in that was as over the top as it gets. Cage has always had talent, or something, that’s undeniable, or else he wouldn’t continue to make a million movies, and we wouldn’t be so fascinated by his decline, his parade into B or C-movie land, or whatever you want to label the BANGKOK DANGEROUS years. Is he a higher paid and slightly less insane Gary Busey? A more famous Eric Roberts? A less ubiquitous Danny Trejo? Or is he something else entirely…?

Recently, we’ve all been swept into the amazing story of Matthew McConaughey, who transformed himself from shirtless Texas surfer dude (who was in an actual movie called SURFER, DUDE as recently as 2008) to a challenger for best actor on the planet (non-Daniel Day Lewis division) in the span of 3-4 years thanks to TRUE DETECTIVE, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, MUD and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. It’s been bewitching to behold (and not in a SEASON OF THE WITCH or THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE kind of way), and shows how quickly American audiences can turn, and get wrapped into a redemption or comeback story.

Dare I say it, but JOE definitely has a whiff of a McConaissance, or a Cageback, as JOE is one of the best and most brutal and real movies I’ve seen in a while. Nicolas Cage is legitimately a convincing badass, his screen presence isn’t a joke, and thankfully it never sinks in that Joe’s full name is Joe Ransom. A lot of the credit goes to Cage, but all of the other ingredients gathered together by David Gordon Green are what make everything else so damn authentic.

If you had told me that David Gordon Green, a director known for the PINEAPPLE EXPRESS and EASTBOUND & DOWN (let’s not talk about YOUR HIGHNESS), was the key to unlocking Nicolas Cage’s spirit of vengeance (adapting a book by Larry Brown), I don’t know if I’d have believed you.

But JOE is for real, folks.

Nicolas Cage is Joe, a beefy, tattooed ex-con trying to make good in one of the many towns in Texas you want to drive straight through (and certainly don’t drive angry in). It’s clear he’s a respected man about town, thanks to his hard work and turnaround, and how he’s given many people work. It’s not exactly legal, as Joe and his men poison trees in the forest, enabling lumber companies to chop them down without a fight. Joe is one of those “good men” that really only has the potential to be one, or is a good man only in comparison to all the $#*! he wades through, or is a good man in between his weekly dust ups with assaulting a police officer (though they, of course, have it coming). It’s obvious his temper, and nose for trouble is inextricable. Joe can try to change as much as he wants…but his anger will never go away.

But Joe beats a malicious, abusive drunk for a role model, which is what Gary Jones has to live with. Gary and his family are new to the hovel, drifting from town to town once his father permanently burns their bridges in each one. Wade, the father, is a stain on humanity, a representation of the absolute worst of alcoholism. He beats his family mercilessly (his wife and Gary’s Mom is a husk, and Gary’s sister is mute and likely permanently mentally damaged), and wastes any money they earn on booze.

Tye Sheridan (MUD, THE TREE OF LIFE), who plays the brave, tough and vulnerable 15 year old Gary, is brilliant. I’m not sure where Tye summons the courage and the ability to stand up to all the crap around him (or maybe I don’t want to know), but you want Tye/Gary to be happy so bad, that when he smiles his glorious smile (a rare treat), you feel like a doting parent. Sheridan was fantastic as the lead in MUD, and he’s even better here. I’ll be shocked if Tye Sheridan isn’t Academy Award material down the line.

Gary discovers Joe and his men poisoning trees in the woods, and asks for work. Joe immediately takes him under his wing, and also invites his Dad into the fold. Bad idea, as Wade is beyond the point where he can withstand a day of honest work, let alone want to. Joe tells Gary and his father not to come back, and Gary gets a beating for it. It appears that his father has ruined another chance once again, but Gary refuses to give up, hounding Joe for work, on his own. You want the work to be enough…for Wade to lay down in a ditch somewhere, but he and some of the other contemptible vagrants in town, are heading for fateful conflict with Joe, Gary caught in the middle.

JOE works so well because of its casting, and the suffocating seedy, gritty atmosphere soaked in every frame. JOE shows us the evils of alcoholism, law enforcement, and the perpetual cycle of violence and suffering in lower class America.

I have no idea where David Gordon Green found his actors, but they’re a revelation. Wade (aka G-Daawg) is played by the beyond grizzly Gary Poulter, as a vile character with no redeeming qualities. And Gary Poulter is terrifying; his lust for liquor and the lengths he’ll go to get another fix, is unsettling, making you squirm whenever he’s in the same scene with Gary. That happens a lot.

Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins), as a scarred, vengeful pedophile, is no less disturbing. The fiercely loyal and hard-working Junior (Brian Mays), who looks after Joe’s crew as his second in command, doesn’t even feel like a character. He’s just real, and I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in this movie save Cage and Sheridan weren’t “actors” at all. It’s as if David Gordon Green showed up to a small town in Texas, and filmed everyone that was languishing about around Cage and Sheridan. This isn’t far off: the cast is made up of indie actors and non-actors cast off the streets of Austin.

Aside from a “they’re friends now” montage between Joe and Gary, when Joe gets Gary drunk and teaches him how to drive his truck (smart), and Connie (Adriene Mishler), who’s the lone bright spot in this town of suck (and out of place for it), everything feels pitch perfect. We know how this movie is going to end, that Joe is going to be unable to stay on good terms with Johnny Law in an effort to help Gary, but it’s no less riveting for it.

JOE is uncomfortable, but a fascinating watch. Come to see Nicolas Cage acting again, stay for an unbelievable (more accurately, unnervingly believable) supporting cast and a snap shot of a world we’re lucky not to live in. Join the conversation before it happens, because I guarantee it’s about to.

JOE arrives in theaters this Friday, April 11th, as well as on iTunes and VOD.

Before I begin, I just want to clarify: this isn’t a list of portrayals of actual presidents in films. You’re not going to see Daniel Day-Lewis’ Abraham Lincoln or Frank Langella’s Richard Nixon, or the 53 actors who have played JFK. These are all fake presidents, which should be abundantly clear.

This is specifically for MOVIE presidents. Fictional TV presidents would be an entirely different list, but if you must know, it would have Martin Sheen’s President Bartlet at #2, AFTER Laura Roslin of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, because I’m the worst. David Palmer of 24/Allstate would be 3rd place.

Many old men in Hollywood have practically made a career of playing the POTUS. If you’re a grizzled character actor with a nice clump of white hair and you ooze authority, you’ve likely played the thankless role of a president in a film.

Ronny Cox  (above) wins the award for most portrayals, with four, including the craptacular 1990 CAPTAIN AMERICA, MARTIANS GO HOME, MURDER AT 1600 and NADIA’S PROMISE. Since MARTIANS GO HOME came out in 1989, he’s played a President in 4 different decades, and is still doing it. NADIA’S PROMISE came out this year.

JAWS’ Roy Scheider played the President three separate times. As did Gregory Harrison. Stanley Anderson (Michael Bay’s first call, for ARMAGEDDON and THE ROCK), Henry Fonda, Louis Gossett Jr., Sam Waterston, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Coyote, Jonathan Pryce and David Rasche have each played a POTUS twice on the big screen.

TRIVIA TO IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS: Jeff and Beau Bridges aren’t the coolest sibling duo who have both played presidents. That award goes to Dennis and Randy Quaid. Dennis for AMERICAN DREAMZ…

Whereas Randy Quaid had the country in the palm of his hands in the classic MAIL TO THE CHIEF. The movie came out in 2000, six years before Dennis ever sniffed the oval office.

14 years ago, Randy Quaid was playing the President in Disney movies and I thought I’d play for the Kentucky basketball team. Life’s weird. Speaking of…

…Charlie Sheen was the President in MACHETE KILLS.

Eric Roberts was the head of state in FIRST DOG. I don’t want to look that movie up to shatter the illusion of what it is in my head (AIR BUD + White House).

Terry Crews was the President in IDIOCRACY. His name was Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.

Robert Rodriguez’s SPY KIDS movies didn’t fuck around. In the second film, Shooter McGavin himself played the President. Then they took a step down in SPY KIDS 3-D, opting for a little guy named George Clooney:

Lame. Far superior was the fake but judicious U.S. population who elected Jack Nicholson to the White House, right before the world became under siege by aliens in MARS ATTACKS!

Is Jack not exactly who we want making the all-important decisions for our country?

PRESIDENT THAT WON’T SNIFF MY BALLOT:

Chris Rock as Mays Gilliam in HEAD OF STATE (2003). I just hate this movie. Maybe I’m just mad that I actually paid to see this one in theaters.

HANGING CHADS/SNUBS (in no particular order):

Michael Douglas (THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, a redundant title), Kevin Kline (DAVE), John Travolta (PRIMARY COLORS), Alan Alda (CANADIAN BACON), Tim Robbins (AUSTIN POWERS 2: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME), Henry Fonda (FAIL SAFE), Jeff Bridges (THE CONTENDER) and Stephen Colbert (MONSTERS VS. ALIENS). Yeah, I blew it.

5. Billy Bob Thornton as the President, LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)

Billy Bob Thornton exudes sleaze and a stinky odor that can only be described as pure, unadulterated America in the brilliant British romcom. It’s a master stroke of casting, as arrogance and charm seep out of Billy Bob’s pores in this small role. He’s inappropriate with Hugh Grant/the Prime Minister’s squeeze, he’s a bully, presumably a philandering alcoholic, and he’s exactly what the Brits and the rest of the world think of American politicians. And they’re probably right.

I’d still vote for Billy Bob Thornton in a heartbeat.

4. Morgan Freeman as President Tom Beck, DEEP IMPACT (1998)

James Earl Jones delivered the first depiction of a black president in THE MAN (1972), although Sammy Davis Jr. dreamed of being the black president as a 7 year old in RUFUS JONES FOR PRESIDENT (1933). You could make a convincing argument that 24, DEEP IMPACT and other pop culture entries featuring black actors as the President paved the way for Barack Obama. It shouldn’t have required that, but Morgan Freeman’s portrayal in DEEP IMPACT might be one of the most influential of its kind. It doesn’t get any more regal, comforting, stately and presidential than “The Voice.”

Like in life, when everything seems lost, or when humanity is on the brink, we need heroes the most. Or at least, that’s what the movies teach us, and in DEEP IMPACT, a comet could destroy the planet. Leave it to Morgan Freeman and his voice to soothe our worries, and lead the way.

3. Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley, DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)

In Stanley Kubrick’s hilarious black comedy about the Cold War, nuclear paranoia and the folly of politics, Peter Sellers gets a new high score. He plays three of the main characters, including the titular Dr. Strangelove, a maniacal mad-scientist role that overshadows his Captain Mandrake and…the President.

In DR. STRANGELOVE, Sellers’ President is shocked to discover that the U.S. has ordered a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, without his permission. He finds himself in an impossible situation, amid a sea of incompetent and unruly advisers in the war room, while not exactly the brightest man himself.

Here are two classic scenes from the movie, though it’s one of those movies where every scene is famous:

2. Harrison Ford as President James Marshall, AIR FORCE ONE (1997)

In the 1990’s, we wanted a President who could kick ass and murder with the best of them. Leave it to Harrison Ford to bring the badass to the Oval Office, as he turns the President (an ex-soldier) into a 90’s action hero in Wolfgang Peterson’s AIR FORCE ONE. It’s honestly one of Ford’s best roles, as he takes down a malicious Gary Oldman and his ring of terrorists WHILE IN FLIGHT. He also delivers arguably the best line from a Fictional Movie President, in a way that only Ford could:

This list will not go quietly into the night…

1. Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore, INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

There are no words, especially when Bill Pullman stole them all, in probably the greatest movie speech ever:

All of the goosebumps.