This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.A carjacking thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad) is an easy sell. Both stars are incredibly talented, so the idea of them working together is enough to bring fans to theaters. However, while Sympathy for the Devil does deliver powerful performances from its leads, the movie gets dragged down by a by-the-numbers approach to storytelling.

Sympathy for the Devil follows David (Kinnaman) as he drives to the hospital after his wife has gone into labor. Unfortunately, as soon as David arrives at the hospital, he’s taken hostage by a stranger with a red leather jacket and a twitchy finger on the trigger of a gun (Cage). At first, David thinks he’s being robbed, but the stranger wants them to drive from Las Vegas to Boulder City. The movie takes place during this anxiety-inducing road trip, as David tries to escape and the stranger wreaks havoc everywhere they go.

While David and the stranger will cross different people and stop at a few places along the way, the core of Sympathy for the Devil is the battle of wits between captor and prisoner. Trapped inside the car, the two men play a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, trying to explore each other’s weaknesses. The driver wants to return to the hospital and ensure his kidnapper won’t follow him or hurt his family. On the other hand, the passenger seems to have mistaken David for another person and keeps playing sick games to force his victim to confess the supposed truth.

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‘Sympathy for the Devil’ Is More Formulaic Than Frightening
Image via RLJE Films

While it’s entertaining to see Cage and Kinnaman carry the tension, there is a lingering mystery in Sympathy for the Devil that falls short. The story does what it can to keep its secrets, with the passenger dropping hints instead of revealing his true intentions right away. Yet, the experience of Sympathy for the Devil is not surprising. On the contrary, everything plays out as expected, which can be disappointing considering the long build-up before the reveal.

Sympathy for the Devil also plays it safe regarding dialogue, relying on common expressions that would sound flat if it wasn’t for Cage’s and Kinnaman’s electric performances. When the movie then tries to explore grief and trauma, the script’s approach to these themes is so undercooked that, by the time the credits roll, it feels like a film with nothing relevant to say. That’s a shame, as delving deeper into the psyche of its main characters may have elevated this formulaic thriller.

On the directing front, Yuval Adler also falls short of giving Sympathy for the Devil a unique voice. For instance, the shaky camera doesn’t add anything to the movie. Besides that, the framing keeps the characters too far away to capture the nuances of Cage’s and Kinnaman’s performances, which should be mandatory in a film so focused on human interactions. There’s nothing visually striking in Sympathy for the Devil, even in the movie’s central set pieces. It would be a forgettable thriller if not for Cage’s unhinged take on his character.

‘Sympathy for the Devil’ Taps Into Nicolas Cage’s Gonzo Energy
Image via RLJE Films

Nicolas Cage remains a unique personality in the Hollywood game due to his ability to play grounded characters or embrace the madness and go full haywire. For each Pig in Cage’s career, there’s a Ghost Rider, and for each Leaving Las Vegas, there’s a Renfield. However, while Cage shines the brightest when he has a layered character to play, there’s no question his legion of fans adores when the star can bring his deranged energy on set. Fortunately, that’s precisely the case with Sympathy for the Devil.

As the mysterious kidnapper, Cage is tasked with showing how dangerous the passenger is when he first steps into the scene. The star accepts the challenge, combining wide-eyed stares, twisted grins, and sharp one-liners to keep his prey on the edge. So, even when the story fails to deliver, there’s always something fun to see in Sympathy for the Devil, thanks to Cage’s magnetic presence. In the movie’s best moments, he sheds the mask of the passenger to show the pain he carries inside. Similarly to Mandy, Cage seems to have been hired to make everything wilder, yet the lingering humanity in his performance makes the character matter more.

Kinnaman also deserves praise, perfectly embodying the distress of a man locked in a car with an unleashed Nicolas Cage. In any other movie, the dissonance between Cage’s unstable role and the seriousness of Kinnaman’s David would stick out as a sore thumb. In Sympathy for the Devil, the discrepancy between the two main characters creates the tension needed to keep the story afloat. It’s fascinating to see Kinnaman personify the misery of a man trapped in a situation he can never understand as his captor constantly challenges reason. Meanwhile, Cage keeps spreading gleeful destruction. Sympathy for the Devil should be thankful for Cage and Kinnaman’s brilliant dynamics as, without them, the movie would be nothing more than a bland thriller.

Rating: B-

The Big Picture Sympathy for the Devil delivers powerful performances from Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman, but its by-the-numbers storytelling holds it back. The film’s core focus is the battle of wits between captor and prisoner, with both Cage and Kinnaman bringing their A-game to the tense cat-and-mouse game. While the movie falls short in terms of surprises and exploring deeper themes, Cage’s unhinged performance adds an element of wildness that makes it worth watching. Sympathy for the Devil comes to theaters on July 28.