Even better, it’s free.
Nicolas Cage has made some weird films in his time, but 2016’s Army of One must be close to the top of the leaderboard.
Helmed by Larry Charles, the director of Borat and Dicks: The Musical and a curmudgeonly comedy legend in his own right, the film tells the true (for a certain value of “true”) story of Gary Faulkner, an American construction worker and landlord who took it upon himself to hunt down and capture Osama Bin Laden. Why? God told him to.
Despite having no experience or expertise in… well, anything, really, Faulkner made numerous trips to Pakistan to try and track down the Al-Qaeda leader. He was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2010 while carrying a samurai sword, a bible, and not much else.
Which sounds both crazy and perfect for Nicolas Cage to bring to life on screen, which is exactly what happened. Co-starring Rainn Wilson and featuring Russell Brand as God (I know, I know…), the movie was a complete flop and got absolutely savaged by the critics. It seemed destined to be a footnote in both Charles’ and Cage’s illustrious careers. Except…
Charles uploaded his director’s cut to YouTube for free. All two hours and 40 minutes of it.
There’s a bit of a story here. Charles is currently on the publicity circuit to promote his new memoir, Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter. Naturally, there’s been a spike in interest re: his career, in particular his seemingly constant struggles with censorship and creative control. In various interviews he revealed that a completed documentary on Larry David was shelved in 2022 at the Curb Your Enthusiasm star’s insistence, and the two haven’t spoken since. He’s also talked about how his creative partnership with Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen ended when they made The Dictator, and Charles released their priorities were beginning to diverge.
But the Army of One story is pretty bog-standard Hollywood skullduggery – Charles got locked out of the editing room by Miramax and Dimension Films head Harvey Weinstein.
Posting on Instagram, Charles wrote, “I’ve had many lost epics: Masked And Anonymous (cut against my will), Dicks (original title, Fucking Identical Twins, changed against my will) and the one that might hurt the most, Army Of One (mangled against my will) with a ferocious performance by Nic Cage. I fought with Bob Weinstein, with the producers, got the support of the DGA to at least put my cut out there as long as it’s not for profit. That saga is in my new book COMEDY SAMURAI and the film the way it was meant to be seen is available for free on YouTube in all its glory.”
So here it is. A couple of caveats first, though. The film is in 360p, as that’s the best quality material Charles has access to. And as to whether it’s any good? Well, I just haven’t had a spare three hours today to check it out, but we’ll circle back around on that one later in the week. In the meantime, enjoy a genuinely unhinged Nicolas Cage in what’s either a lost gem or a massive misfire. Either way, it’s worth a spin.
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