I recommend watching Mud. It's sort of like his transition movie from being this stoner whatever dude with abs to taking more serious roles. It's a nice story and a nice movie with tons of nostalgia and hints of what kind of performances he will soon start to take on.
I'd recommend Joe with Nic Cage and the kid from Mud. It's a bit similar to Mud. An ex-con takes a kid under his wing, the kid's dad is no good on a whole other level even than an ex-con who manages a bunch of guys who poison pine trees for a living. Cage is a gifted actor with some self imposed financial burdens that necessitate him being in shit movies. It's also based on a book by one of my favorite authors so I was giddy when it was announced. I sent the sequel to someone on here as part of #hubskiliterarything with the promise that he'd do a book report on it. I need to find his name and call him out.