No matter the role -- and he's played a diverse array of them over the past three decades -- Nicolas Cage often seems to be teetering on the brink of his own personal, self-inflicted insanity. Sure, he's done plenty of forgettable action movies, and lately he's been at the fore of some family-friendly Disney adventures. Then there was that period in the late '90s where every movie he made was a drag, and it was a drag watching him in them. But ... more 

No matter the role -- and he's played a diverse array of them over the past three decades -- Nicolas Cage often seems to be teetering on the brink of his own personal, self-inflicted insanity. Sure, he's done plenty of forgettable action movies, and lately he's been at the fore of some family-friendly Disney adventures. Then there was that period in the late '90s where every movie he made was a drag, and it was a drag watching him in them. But when he's at his volatile best, it's an exciting place to be. This week, with Cage starring in his latest in a series of wheels-off thrillers,Season of the Witch, here's a look at his five most memorable performances.. Like the best-of-Jack-Nicholson list recently, this one was hard to narrow down: less