The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

This meta-comedy sounded like it could be stretching a one-joke premise too far, but it’s actually so much more than that – it’s a Hollywood satire, it’s an over-the-top action comedy, it’s a touching buddy movie, and it’s a hilariously oddball ode to one of the most individual movie stars of a generation.

Premise: Nick Cage (a fictionalised version of Nicolas Cage, played by the man himself) is having a midlife crisis of sorts, finding that he’s not getting the sort of roles that he wants, while also struggling to connect with his teenage daughter (Lily Sheen) and his ex-wife (Sharon Horgan). But when his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) books him a gig to appear at the birthday party of wealthy mega-fan Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal), Nick finds himself caught up in an undercover CIA mission to rescue the kidnapped daughter of foreign president.

Review:

I don’t know Nicolas Cage personally, but I very much doubt that he bears much resemblance to the fictionalised “Nick Cage” that’s presented in (the wonderfully titled) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But what makes the film so enjoyable, is that the real Nicolas Cage is clearly in on the joke, despite the fact that (somewhat surprisingly) he wasn’t directly involved in the film’s conception. Director Tom Gormican co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten ‘on spec’, and then had to persuade Cage to sign on. Thankfully he did, and he seems to have been willing to be brutally honest in terms of poking fun at his own public persona.

The tone of the film is established early on, in a scene where we see Nick Cage (played by Nicholas Cage as he is today) haunted by visions of “Nicky Cage” (also played by Nicolas Cage, with CGI assistance), his younger and more abrasive (and more commercially successful) self. These scenes are quirky and funny, but also touch on some real character depth rather than just going for the easy laughs.

“…Nicolas Cage plays up the absurdity of both the situation & his character’s reaction to it…”

The early scenes are fun, and Sharon Horgan is particularly good as Cage’s ex-wife who is co-parenting their teenage daughter with him, but the film really takes off when Nick Cage heads to Majorca to make an appearance at Javi Gutierrez’s birthday party. Javi is played to perfection by Pedro Pascal, who in his early scenes subtly conveys Javi’s wide-eyed hero worship of Cage with his every awkward glance and self-conscious movement.

The film then morphs into something else, changing from a meta Hollywood satire to more of a traditional action/comedy, when Nick Cage is recruited by the CIA to spy on Javi, who they suspect is the head of an international crime syndicate responsible for the kidnapping of the daughter of a foreign president. Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz appear as Cage’s CIA handlers, and although they both get a few funny lines, their roles feel the most underwritten in the film. Pedro Pascal, meanwhile, expertly balances his portrayal of Javi between adulation for Cage and potentially sinister undertones, to keep the audience guessing. Cage himself shifts up a gear at this stage, from being a despondent actor facing a crisis of confidence to a man invigorated by purpose, while still playing up the absurdity of both the situation and Nick Cage’s reaction to it.

“…the double act of Nicolas Cage & Pedro Pascal is a joy to behold…”

I don’t want to say too much about where the film goes from there, but I will say that the double act of Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal is a joy to behold, and they’re both excellent in their scenes together. The film also comes full circle back to its meta start, with commentary on the need for character-based dramas to increase their marketability by including more commercial plot threads … just as this film does exactly that in its final act.

All in all, this is an absurd, over-the-top and ridiculous delight, that gives Nicolas Cage a chance to play up to the public’s perception of him, while also allowing him to have his cake and eat it by making a film that is both a quirky character study and a silly action/comedy. All that, and it has a delightful running gag about Paddington 2 – what more could you ask for?