Nicolas Cage once acted in a notably sexy and atmospheric New Orleans movie called Zandalee, so nostalgia may have recommended Sonny as a directorial debut project. The handsome young title character (James Franco) returns to his bordello-district home after Army service, wanting only to lead a normal life, work in a bookstore, meet a nice girl, and settle down. Sonny spent his pre-Army years expertly pleasuring well-to-do ladies, having been taught "everything he knows"--as we are oft reminded--by his own mother (Brenda Blethyn in sub-Tennessee Williams rampage). After discovering that "normal" people can be as fallible as lowlifes, our boy reluctantly resumes his former trade, with dispiriting results. Not half as dispiriting, though, as Cage's maiden directing effort. Marginal compensation is supplied by Harry Dean Stanton, sweetly weary as an old family friend, and the copiously zaftig Brenda Vaccaro (cf. Midnight Cowboy) as a once and future client. Cage himself turns up as a poodle-toting pimp named Acid Yellow. --Richard T. Jameson
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Nicholas Cage's directorial debut SONNY is the story of a young man (James Franco) who returns to the life he left behind in New Orleans after a brief stint in the Army. That life, provided by his mother Jewel (Brenda Blethyn), is one of small-time prostitution: mom is a madam, and Sonny has been in the brothel all his life. His brief excursion into the broader world makes Sonny want a different life, but he finds that his old habits--as well as the pull of young call girl Carol (Mena Suvari), and the bond with his mother's companion Henry (Harry Dean Stanton)--make leaving nearly impossible.
For his first shot at directing, Cage chose a particularly gritty, knotted story in SONNY. Barry Markowitz's rich cinematography is nearly tactile, and Cage makes the interesting choice of having the colorful (in more ways than one) city of New Orleans mostly push through the edges of the movie, which is primarily shot in close-up. Those tight shots reveal the simmering rage in Franco's character, as well as the strange Oedipal twist of the hustling son who tries to please his mother by having sex with other women.
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His life was the morning after, until he decided to change the night before.
Meet Sonny and his mother Jewel. Sonny has returned from the Army to his mother's loving arms, tot he sultry, sordid streets of New Orleans, to his mother's whorehouse. He's one of Jewel's most sought-after "employees," but he's thinking about a career change.
Sonny is back to start his life anew. Maybe with Carol, one of Jewel's girls, and one of the few who dream of a life outside "the life". Or maybe in Texas, where the promise of a real job seems almost too good to be true. Until now he's survived in a business where women paid to sleep with him. But how much will it cost to set him free?
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