Movies - TV
Nicolas Cage Snuck A Subtle Clint Eastwood Parody Into Con Air’s Script
By JEREMY SMITH
Fresh off his Best Actor Oscar win in 1995 for “Leaving Las Vegas,” Nicolas Cage decided to shift gears and embrace the action genre with three hit films, including “Con Air.”
In “Con Air,” Cage plays Cameron Poe, a wrongly convicted Gulf War hero serving time. Poe strives to reunite with his family and presents his daughter with a stuffed bunny.
Poe's prison transport, which was initially intended to deliver a notorious group of the nation's most dangerous criminals, becomes a hijacking instead.
Bedlam (Nick Chindlum) discovers Poe's personal items as Poe, with a stern voice, delivers the iconic line "put the bunny back in the box," embodying the essence of Clint Eastwood.
The Academy Award winner clarified his line choice to Vanity Fair, stating, "How can I take that tradition, make the 'make my day' so ridiculous? [...] Bunnies are kind of funny."
Cage said the absurdity of bunny-related dialogue works, "If you sell it with genuine emotion and real determination, like this is the most serious thing in the world."