JOE: hell no I won't go! (for a ride on this particular bandwagon)

Seems Jesus Christ isn't the only one to have risen from the dead this month.
Nicholas Cage's career is also experiencing an equally miraculous resurrection if some of the hype surrounding the release of his latest film JOE is to be believed.
It's 'a re-birth', 'there's not an unfelt moment in Cage's performance' and 'Joe ... reminds us that Nicolas Cage can still be a great actor when he wants to be' is just a sampling of the

hysteria based solely, it seems to me, on the fact that Cage is doing something other than his standard bat-sh*t crazy ham-acting routine in one of those take-the-money-and-run pieces of junk that he's chosen to focus his talents on in recent years.
But just being not awful doesn't make it great or the dawning of a new, serious Nicholas Cage as actor.
Cut through the frenzied hyperbole and what we've got with JOE is a non-shouting or screaming Nicholas Cage with a beard playing a guy called Joe but not for a moment making us forget it's actually Nicholas Cage - even with the beard. I suppose one could argue that by not going way over the top Cage is stretching himself but that in itself is a stretch and still doesn't add up to a great performance.
I mean it's not even like Joe is a particularly interesting or original character. An ex-con whose tough, gruff exterior hides an inner loneliness and a soft spot in his heart, Joe is a type we've seen many times before in the cinema as is his story with its way too predictable ending.
The film's only real revelations are the two main supporting actors. Newcomer Tye Sheridan is superb as Gary, the 15 year old who adopts Joe as an unlikely role model and uncovers the chink in Joe's armour, while first-time actor Gary Poulter is a revelation as Gary's vicious, violent waster of a father, a broken-down alcoholic with no compunction about beating up his son and stealing from him. Poulter plays him as irredeemably mean, making no effort to win our sympathy or understanding, and succeeds without ever resorting to any of the cliches and stereotypes often associated with this type of role. Sadly we'll never get to find out whether Poulter had the talent to build on this initial success as he died a couple of months after filming was completed.
Whether JOE marks a turning point for Nicholas Cage remains to be seen. In terms of a career revival it's more akin to Burt Reynold's in 'Boogie Nights' than Matthew McConaughey's in 'Dallas Buyer's Club' despite those what many of those same critics I referred to earlier might insist.