Pig

Michael Sarnoski's Pig tells of a reclusive chef, memorably embodied by Nicholas Cage, whose beloved truffle pig is kidnapped. Rob Feld, the chef, has taken to the Oregon woods after a traumatic loss. He survives by foraging for truffles and selling them to Amir, a young supplier to the palaces of Portland's haute cuisine. The filching of his pig unhinges Feld and he enlists Amir in an attempt to reclaim the swine. 

In this way, opposites are joined. Feld lives in union with nature and his self-reliance is reminiscent of the pioneer forbears of Oregon whose ethos was reclaimed by the counterculture. Amir is an example of the much derided millennial yuppie scum of Portland. He lives in a high rise condo in the trendy Pearl district and his high tech pad is poles apart from Feld's shack. The search for the pig draws these contrary characters together and helps them both deal with the setbacks and losses of their lives. 

Sarnoski ties this together all too neatly, but is able to assist an array of arresting performances. This film presents Cage at his most taciturn and still. In a performance shorn of tics and schtick, he ably shows a man whose loss of his porcine companion pokes at the festering wound of a previous tragedy. Alex Wolff is equally good as Amir whose wallowing in materialistic bling masks an equally damaged soul. The supporting cast is exemplary. I particularly treasure any film containing a performance by Gretchen Corbett. Corbett, a contract player in the waning days of the studio system, is best known for portraying James Garner's on and off girlfriend on The Rockford Files. Since moving back to her native Oregon, she has become a doyenne of the local theater scene and she pops up occasionally in Northwest based television fare such as Shrill and Portlandia. 

A treasure and Portland as fuck: Gretchen Corbett

This points to one of the film's major strengths. It is, as the locals say, Portland as fuck. The location shooting gives it the nod in verisimilitude compared to such faux PDX pictures as I, Tonya, but its capturing the sordid underbelly of Portlandia plays especially well. Sarnoski does overplay that aspect at one point. A Fight Club type sequence seems out of place; more of an homage to David Fincher and former Portlander Chuck Palahniuk than an organic part of the film. Sarnoski also over relies on close-ups, but I would give a guarded recommendation to The Pig; mostly for its well judged performances.