Nicolas Cage has truly been building his entire life to “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” For the last ~15 years of his film career, we’ve been wondering “Is he in on the joke?” There have been many films where we don’t think the answer is YES. We’re talking post “National Treasure” era to pre “Mandy” days. With this latest release, we have faith that it’s a resounding SURE IS!
For superfans of Nicolas Kim Coppola aka Nic Cage, this film is for YOU. The film is much enhanced if you are familiar with the details of his filmography. For the more casual fan as long as you are generally familiar with his popularity and impact on the cultural zeitgeist you should be fine. The filmmakers clearly had that understanding and we’re guessing that authenticity is what drew the star to the project. It’s one of those films where you can’t imagine it working for any other actor out there. Weirdly it parallels how “Everything Everywhere All at Once” felt like it HAD to star Michelle Yeoh.
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Within the film Cage plays “Nick Cage” (note the K) an actor whose woes mirror that of the real Cage. When confronted with money issues he agrees to make a birthday party appearance for a megarich superfan. Said enthusiast is played by Pedro Pascal. We honestly have to give so much credit to him and Cage for delivering some of the lines in the film with a straight face. The plot thickens when the US government gets involved and enlists Cage to spy on his host. His ability to afford Cage’s appearance fee seems to come from some questionable business practices.
Yes, we know this all sounds absurd. And it is. It is also just a great deal of fun. Trying to look at it as not a Cage connoisseur, we still think the film is enjoyable. Again a base level familiarity with who Nic Cage is and also the filmmaking process is likely a requirement. All that being said if you have that and are willing to embrace the meta-ness of the ride, you’re likely in for a damn good time. At it’s core it’s a classic action film, the type that would have starred a classic Nic Cage…
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” also stars Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish.
It’s currently in theaters now.
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