The thing about Nicholas Cage is that he can't really act. He does a lot of stuff to distract you from that fact, physical stuff, like waving his hands around and varying his volume and spasming every now and then. It's all about him not knowing how to read the lines in the script. Otherwise he just has this I'm-pissed-off scowl, but that's reserved for his "low-key" performances. It allows his fans to read their own emotions into the character. That's how it works, fool people into thinking that you are really good then they start thinking that they should see something there. He also has an incredibly nasal voice, it's exactly like a black person mocking how white people sound.