Sometimes a movie comes along that’s so crazy it just might work — and that’s particularly true when Nicolas Cage is involved.
That sort of absurdity seems to be the primary hook for Army of One, which casts Cage as amateur terrorist hunter Gary Faulkner, the (real-life) former convict and construction worker who famously traveled to Pakistan to hunt Osama bin Laden with a sword he bought on a home-shopping channel and a pistol he brought from his home in Colorado. The satirical comedy puts a wild spin on Faulkner’s adventure — a quest he was directed by God to undertake, he claims — and offers what appears to be a pretty great one-two punch of bizarre, real-world story and one of the best actors you’re going to get to play a character this eccentric.
And now the movie has its first trailer.
Directed by Borat and Bruno filmmaker Larry Charles, Army of One features Cage as Faulkner, along with another bit of impressive casting: Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) as God. Supporting roles in the film are played by Wendi McLendon-Covey, Rainn Wilson, Ken Marino, Denis O’Hare, and Paul Scheer.
A handyman in his 50s who made headlines in 2010 when he was arrested in northwestern Pakistan while trying to cross into Afghanistan, Faulkner became a media sensation when his story began circulating. A widely read profile in Time and an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman increased his profile significantly in the months that followed, and the movie rights to his story were soon snatched up.
Army of One isn’t getting a full-scale, wide release in theaters, but it will debut on the big screen November 4 before heading to home entertainment and on-demand video streaming services November 15. You’ll need to check your local theater listings to determine if it’s being screened anywhere nearby.
