Nicholas Cage kicked off his career in 1982 in Fast Times at Ridgemont High with Sean Penn, both would go on to win a Best Actor Oscar.Over two decades later Cage is one of the most recognisable faces in cinema starring in action adventure blockbusters like Con Air and The Rock to the lesser known roles in Matchstick Men and Lord of War.Here at FemaleFirst we look back at a career spanning over twenty year s and pick our Nicholas Cage's top five movie performances.

1. Leaving Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas was to be Cage's one and only Oscar winning performance in 1995 as a drunk wanting to commit suicide based on the semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien.Ben Sanderson is a depressed alcoholic screenwriter who has lost everything due to his out of control drinking. After finally losing his job and his family he takes all his possession to Las Vegas where he aims to commit suicide by alcohol consumption.

But upon arrival he meets Sera (Elizabeth Shue), a prostitute, with whom he develops a deep friendship and understanding.

The film was met by critical acclaim and Nicholas Cage won Best Actor in Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes as well as picking up the Best Actor Oscar.

Elizabeth Shue and director Mike Figgis were also recognised with nomination at both awards ceremonies for Best Actress, Best Director and best Adapted Screenplay, which Figgis wrote.

Despite doing well critically it only enjoyed moderate success at the box office but went on be one of the most popular films for rental and sale in 1996 and 1997.

2. Face Off

In 1997 Cage teamed up with Chinese action director John Woo and John Travolta in Face/Off in which the two leading men playing two personalities.

The ordeal of dedicated FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) is only beginning after finally capturing his archnemesis, Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage), an elusive, maniacal terrorist who claimed the life of Archer's son.

While Troy languishes in a coma, Archer surgically "borrows" Troy's face in an attempt to gather evidence about Troy's last bomb--which is currently ticking away in a Los Angeles office building.

Trouble ensues when Troy wakes up faceless, borrows Archer's visage, and makes a mess of Archer's life; all the while, both men struggle to adapt to their new identities while struggling to blow each other away.

While the plot is totally ludicrous both actors are on top of their game as they take on the personalities of each other.

Each actor nails the other's mannerisms and speech rhythms perfectly and despite Travolta having the showier role as odd-ball Castor Troy, Cage excels the more difficult, emotional role as he, as Archer, tries to protect his family.

Upon release the role reversal was the subject of much praise as the film went on to gross $245 million at the global box office, making it the 11th highest grossing film of 2007.

Moonstruck

It was leading lady Cher that requested that Cage play her younger lover Ronny Cammereri in Moonstruck after becoming a fan of his unorthodox method of acting, that was being criticised by Hollywood at the time.

Under the magic of the full moon, an Italian-American family tries to sort out their romantic entanglements and find happiness.

Tired of being single, and longing for security, widow Loretta Castorini agrees to marry Johnny Cammareri, a man she admittedly doesn't love.

While he visits his dying mother in Sicily, she visits his estranged brother Ronny in order to invite him to the wedding, and, much to her surprise, finds herself deeply attracted to him taken by his passion and poetic ways.

Their mutual attraction takes over, and they make love. They wake up later and Loretta feels ashamed of herself. She says she could never see Ronny again and they must never tell anyone what they did. But the affair continues.

Loretta's parents have equally complex romantic lives; her father is involved in a long-term affair, while her mother is avidly pursued by a college professor.

Ronny decides to woo Loretta by taking her to the opera later that day. Loretta dyes her hair and gets a beautiful dress. At the opera, both Loretta and her father Cosmo catch each other being unfaithful.

That same evening Johnny arrives back as his mother has made a recovery claiming he has something important to tell Loretta.

Ronny arrives at the house to confront his brother with the fact that he is in love with Loretta.

The film won three Oscars including Best Actress for Cher, Supporting Actress for Olympia Dukakis and Original Screenplay as well as nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.

4. Matchstick Men

Meet Roy and Frank, a couple of professional small-time con artists. What Roy, a veteran of the grift, and Frank, his ambitious protege, are swindling these days are water filtration systems, bargain-basement water filters bought by unsuspecting people who pay ten times their value in order to win bogus prizes like cars, jewellery and overseas vacations--which they never collect.

These scams net the flim-flam men a few hundred here, another thousand there, which eventually adds up to a lucrative partnership.

Roy's private life, however, is not so successful. An obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe with no personal relationships to call his own, Roy is barely hanging on to his wits, and when his idiosyncrasies begin to threaten his criminal productivity he's forced to seek the help of a psychoanalyst just to keep him in working order.

While Roy is looking for a quick fix, his therapy begets more than he bargained for: the revelation that he has a teenage daughter--a child whose existence he suspected but never dared confirm.

What's more troubling, 14-year-old Angela wants to meet the father she never knew. At first, Angela's appearance disrupts her neurotic father's carefully ordered routine.

Soon, however, with his own unique spin on parenthood, Roy begins to enjoy a relationship he never dreamed of having with his daughter. But while he develops paternal feelings for the 14-year-old, she's developing a fascination with Daddy's questionable career.

Despite being directed by Ridley Scott this is one of Nicholas Cage's lesser known roles and despite the positive reviews it only grossed $65.5 million at the global box office.

5. Adaptation

2002 Spike Jonze picture Adaptation in Which Cage starred alongside Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper was to land the actor his second Oscar nomination.

Despite the success of his first produced script, "Being John Malkovich," for which he received an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay, Charlie Kaufman is plagued by insecurities, both in his career and his personal life.

When he is hired to adapt "The Orchid Thief," a nonfiction book about a fanatical orchid breeder, John Laroche, he is completely stumped.

Though, on the surface, the book is about Larocheâ??s flower poaching adventures in the Florida Everglades, on another level it's also about the desire in all of us to experience passion. This longing plagues the book's author, Susan Orlean and, Charlie realizes, himself as well.

Charlie's twin brother, Donald Kaufman, only makes things worse when he moves in with Charlie and announces he's going to be a screenwriter too. As Charlie battles his severe case of writer's block, Donald cheerily types away on a script about a serial killer with multiple-personality disorder. Donald's script immediately sells, making him the hottest new writer in town.

As if Charlie wasn't feeling bad enough, Donald is also getting laid regularly, while Charlie can't even get to first base.

Then, one day, Charlie has a last ditch inspiration. He'll use his own dilemma as a framework for the script about Laroche and Orlean.

But as the words start to flow, and the story takes shape, Charlie inadvertently sets in motion a chain of events impacting on the lives of all the characters.

Despite only moderate success at the box office it was critically acclaimed and Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper all received Oscar nomination, only Chris Cooper went on to win.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is released 8th February.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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