European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cage on a role with Romance by Linda Winer Bernheimer we Sjay Nicolas Cage has been letting movie Audi ence judge him for nearly half his life. He first appeared onscreen at 17 As the sensitive Punk hunk in Valley girl 1983emerging shirtless on the Beach and mumbling a Kwh Anat 1 done to want to go to the Valley in a not in the mood to go to the  it May not have been Brando calling a Stella a but the debut kicked off a prolific and Peculiar career full of edgy often dangerous characters with an unexpected romantic Streak and decency trapped behind their eyes. Think Elvis and James Stewart in one Long loopy package probably with adenoids. This time however he a positively decency unchained in it could happen to you the Andrew Bergman romantic comedy fable opening Friday at cafes Heaters. A Cage plays Charlie a Good old fashioned beat cop in new York City who Short of Money fora tip at the neighbourhood Coffee shop promises the waitress Bridget Fonda half his lottery ticket. Naturally he wins $4 million and because Quot a Promise is a. Promise Quot hands $2 million Over to her. A yes this is the Jimmy Stewart movie a agrees Cage adding that Bergman kept directing him to a make it More �?~jimmy.�?T. But in a such a huge admirer a he s such an american icon a that id Hesi tale to say i was impersonating him. It was really. More of a tip of the hat kind of an homage you know.  think he had what seemed to be a pure american innocence which trembled on the screen in a Way that gave people Hope. And there Isnit a Jot of that right now in  a in fact Gage had done a so Many subversive and twisted characters on the Darker Side of things that he himself decided a few years ago to lighten up. A i know this sounds like a cliche and kind of romantic a he says a but in a 30 now and a  Weston 3, mostly lives with his Mother actress Kristina Fulton. Cage who shares custody lives with Model Kristen a a i suddenly became worried about my Community. I done to want anything to happen to people i love. Even when 1 was making wild at heart David Lynch a rhapsodic outlaw sonnet 1990i was still a very sort of rebellious Young Man. Now i Feci myself slowing Down into a worry wart about society. Yeah a he smiles at the adult predicament with a combination of earnestness and irony a a a in a a member of the club now a i remember i saw Jim Morrison in an old to interview once and he was really drugged up of something but he said i Haven to done a song yet that has conveyed pure happiness and i looked at him and thought a you know what you were great but you Hadnot done that a and you could be really  and then i thought a am i being pretentious is it pretentious to be always brooding always that upset and angry Guy a so it was a turning Point. I had neglected comedy for a Long time. I knew i could be funny but i did no to want to be funny. I wanted to be James  the result was what he Calls his a Sunshine trilogy a bergmans honeymoon in vegas then guarding Tess and now this almost mythic style piece. And this Trio does no to even include his too honest to lie drifter in red Rock West the thriller recently rescued from the video gulag for general release nor his reluctant Bank robber at Christmas in the upcoming it happened in Paradise with Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz. A Nick makes Ordinary Guys so interesting a a mar Veis Bergman who is similarly drawn to everyday. Characters trapped in extraordinary situations. Bridget Fonda with Nicolas Cagen it could happen to foil which opens Friday at military Heaters. To Star a the Tel a nothing White bread about anything he  this is after Al the fellow who decorated the Castle who collects muscle Quot cars who once told american film a a in a just More entertained with something that gives you bad  he is now filming kiss of death a remake of the Richard wid Mark Victor mature gangster flick in which Cage plays the bad Guy to the Good Guy of David Caruso of Nype Bic. A a a a a Well a Cage says with an unapologetic shrug a i mean i needed a change. I was playing such a do Good kind of Guy that i had to mix things up just to keep things interesting for myself really.�?�. _ this explains his new Goatee a for a More fierce look if not the embroidered silk shirt the format Black pants and Black Alligator shoes that at first glance give our Host the unexpected air of a Don at his Spanish Villa. Cage 30, looks finer boned a less expansive and jangly a than onscreen though he says he has just beefed up a a month and a half of weights and protein shakes a for the new part. His Teeth Are a Little crooked. His voice is heartier than the whispery timbre so identifiable in his movies. How remarkable that in an age with so few love stories this Man with the Wispy Sandy hair and an almost silent movie abundance of Whites in his eyes would find so Many to dominate. A a in be never thought i was handsome by Hollywood standards a he says thoughtfully a but i think Lucky. For me the american Public tends to respond More to the everyman a or every Worman a than to the dream Man or woman. Look at Harrison Ford who strikes me As a classic everyman Type very intense but not extraordinarily handsome you know Tom Hanks is another Good example. Of course there Are the Mel Gibsons but i think people by and Large like to go to movies to feel like they could be these  this is a Man who has grown up in Public a essentially self trained and though his Pedigree is fascinating self created. He was bom in Long Beach calif., As Nicolas Coppola Nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and youngest of the three sons of a dancer choreographer named Joy Vogelsang and a professor of comparative literature later Dean of creative arts at san Francisco state University a named a gust Coppola a my dad was always playing great n cords or showing me great classical films and expo ins me to All kinds of wonderful culture a Cage Sai with Pride and affection. But Nicolas whose parents divorced when hew. 12, dropped out of Beverly Hills High school in the 11th Grade. I did no to drop out a he corrects firmly. Took the ged the proficiency exam and left. I did no to like High school. I did no to like anything Aboul and my father did no to like the school system any More than i did. He Felt life experience was the re teacher. For an academic it was a very Maverick thing to do to want me to do my  his a own things was acting almost As Long As he can remember. I knew i wanted to be an actor when i was 6, to my to figure out How to get into the television set. Wanted to be one of those people inside the to. 1 sold p00171 at the Fairfax movie theater Hollywood trying to figure out How to get from in it _ Concession stand to the screen. A i was really into comic books As a child a says ? u t00khisnewnamefromacombin a a of i v vat Garde a it Poser and Luke  super heroes Luck Cage he used to create characters by doing a crazy w v 7�ecause 1 real cd it Dnn to know How to act Caine  Antn Cravn slav a disfi8ured Vietnam vet i and ate a liv9 cockroach to get i Arv sent Inanc of a Lse Avoir characters the Lite Ary agent m Vampire s kiss 1989. A ref in sctt no demanding roles and not ache Lesi  n to was a. Peop a like Robert de a to heard lived the part and earned the Why a be l ii est t1,? have a life Al a quickly that ills very hard i Nave a life when you do that when you take your capote is who a a a a  bed g a a ,0fa�theiu&Quot a Quot a a a a sunday september 4. 1994