IFC has released the trailer for “Best Pancakes in the County,” an action thriller in which Nicolas Cage plays a fast-talking con man caught in a deadly standoff at a small-town diner. The film opens in limited release and on digital platforms Nov. 20.
Ken Sanzel wrote and directed the picture, which unfolds over a single night as rogue federal agents, a criminal with a dangerous past and a waitress harboring her own secrets collide. The film runs 91 minutes. Sanzel knows Cage’s rhythms: the two previously made the action thriller “Kill Chain” together.
Justin Long, Shelley Hennig, Lauren German and Ravi Patel round out the cast, with Hennig playing the waitress. The setup recalls Cage’s earlier diner-bound thriller “Sympathy for the Devil,” a comparison that genre outlets drew when IFC announced its acquisition.
The pickup came after a sales push on the international market. Fortitude International closed deals in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Middle East and the CIS following the Cannes festival, and its sister company CaliWood Pictures co-financed the film. A U.S. buyer initially surfaced in that round of sales, but IFC has since taken the domestic release.
Production happened in the heart of Arkansas. Filming wrapped in central Arkansas earlier this year, and local reports placed part of the shoot in Roland, where Cage was spotted dining out for weeks. The state’s film community welcomed the work. “Anytime a production comes to Arkansas it’s great for our economy,” the Arkansas Cinema Society said, pointing to spending on furniture, wardrobe, hotels and catering.
The release adds to a crowded stretch for Cage. He is in post-production on “Madden” for David O. Russell and “Lords of War” for Andrew Niccol, and his recent credits include “Longlegs,” “The Surfer” and the television series “Spider-Noir.” Few actors of his stature release this many projects in a single year, and the diner thriller fits the pattern of lean, genre-driven films that have kept him a fixture in theaters and on streaming. IFC has not announced a wider theatrical rollout beyond the Nov. 20 date.
