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Sympathy For The Devil is a lean, mean 90 minute thriller from writer Luke Paradise and director Yuval Adler that follows a man credited simply as The Driver (Joel Kinnaman) who is on his way to the hospital where his wife is about to give birth. Unfortunately, just as he pulls into the hospital garage, a stranger gets into his car – The Passenger (Nicolas Cage). Before he could fully process what is happening, the Driver comes face to face with a gun held by the Passenger, who tells him to leave the garage, start driving, and not put up a fuss or else he will make use of his weapon.
What is the ultimate purpose of The Passenger’s demands? And how does it connect with The Driver? If at all? Does The Passenger think The Driver is who he thinks he is? That is the central mystery at play. And Paradise’s script keeps you in the dark for as long as possible, offering only the tiniest of morsels of glimpses of hints at information that could explain what the reality of the situation really is. Although, if you’ve seen any number of movies in which one character is seemingly mistaken for someone in the accuser’s past, there’s only so many ways this story can go.
However, the combination of Adler’s slick direction, and the committed performances from Cage and Kinnaman (but really mostly Cage if we’re being honest here). Kinnaman is very much the straight main in this pair. His grounded temperament, total bewilderment and desperation is a darkly amusing contrast to Cage’s performance. It is over-the-top as one might expect and probably want for a role like this, but it isn’t wild just for the sake of it. There is purpose to it, there is something that motivates his character’s behavior, and it makes an otherwise basic story feel all the more richer as a result.
Of course, as far as it’s simplicity goes, I do think there is a bit of a missed opportunity. With the title being what it is, you almost set yourself up for a potential supernatural element, or at the very least on a metaphorical level, and that metaphor is there, especially in terms of what makes one a good person versus a bad one, but it’s faint, and doesn’t really have the kind of impact that one would hope. By the time we get to the end, the answers are very literal and very clear. There isn’t a whole lot of room left for alternative interpretations.
But once it’s all said and done, I had a pretty good time with Sympathy For The Devil. It’s a very unabashed B-movie, a straightforward premise, gnarly performances, clear and present stakes, and tightly edited and propulsive narrative that keeps you hooked until it reaches the credits. It moves well, the night time cinematography is fairly strong, the lighting is evocative, the violence packs a real punch, and the two leads are effortlessly engaging. And while I wasn’t necessarily surprised by the ending, I did feel like it was an appropriate conclusion to the events that I have been witnessing for the last 90 minutes. It’s like the kind of movie you would catch while channel surfing through cable (am I showing my age here?), and you would recognize Cage, and stick around, watch a cool scene, and decide to stick with it, and you end up finding yourself a random hidden gem. Obviously, that’s not how things quite work these days, but it’s definitely a suitable rainy day movie that will be a pleasant surprise to anyone who comes across it.
Sympathy For The Devil is now out in select theaters.