The Unbearable Massive Weight of Talent; Grade: B-
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent tells a story about an actor named Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage) who once was a movie star, but is now struggling to secure roles while having massive debt over $600,000. Nick Cage didn’t secure the role of this movie he wanted to play, however he does have a million dollar offer to partake a birthday party on an island. So Nick Cage accepts the offer as after taking the offer he claims he’s done with acting as a whole. So Nick Cage goes to this island to meetup with the man named Javi (Pedro Pascal), who so happens to be a Nick Cage superfan, who has also written a script for Mr. Cage as well. So Javi and Nick connected, as they explore the possibility of making a movie together. While that is going on: Nick Cage is also working with the CIA, as it turns out Javi is some kind of drug lord.
First day back in Sin City, as of course made a trip down to the theater to see the new Nicolas Cage film. Of course the selling point of this film was obvious Nicolas Cage, as his track record has been a bit on the upside, with stellar unique films such as Mandy, Color out of Space, and of course last years Pig. When it comes to critically acclaimed Nicolas Cage films of the past few years, you come to expect a weird, creative, and unique creation of some kind.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent compared to those three films I’ve mentioned, definitely differs indeed. This film felt it had a much grander production value in terms of visual style, but also narrative speaking this felt like a basic comedy style kind of film. Don’t get me wrong: This is a unique story, just how it’s presented felt like a typical comedy. So I was kind of caught off guard because I’m used to seeing indie kind of films, when it comes to Nicolas Cage appearing in a critically acclaimed film. Still all in all: This was a cool comedy film.
Narrative speaking: It has a neat little concept. Like the story at hand is honestly based off an actual true story of Nicolas Cage himself, as a once beloved movie star gone off the rails due to poor management in terms of finances, so he has to take on any role he can take… You can see from his filmography he’s been in TONS of bad films, solely due to the fact he needed a paycheck to pay off his debt. But here’s the thing: I believe the only actor who can actually play Nicolas Cage, has to be the man himself. The man is a legend and icon that can simply not be replicated, so here’s an opportunity to have Nick Cage basically play himself while he’s still here… It’s a cool idea for a film.
How the story plays off is a bit silly, sometimes the silliness works and sometimes the silliness doesn’t, it’s give or take honestly. Like I enjoyed the whole Nick Cage dealing with a massive fan boy of Nicolas Cage, I thought that whole side of the story was fun and funny at some moments, as it’s accurate what one would want to do if they were given the opportunity to hangout with Nicolas Cage. The whole CIA side of the story… Meh, felt too basic as it felt like one of those repetitive spy comedies, so I wasn’t much of a fan of that idea into play.
I think what the film does particularly well is it brings out an accurate portrayal of what goes through the mind of Nicolas Cage. The film channels his odd personality but also channels his creative side of himself as well, as you can even say when it channels Nicolas Cage’s mind it becomes a whole different kind of film. Like is anything going on in this story actually happening, or is this what goes through the mind of a talented being, as once ideas click that they can actually construct a working story?! I felt the whole thing coming together by the end of it was pretty neat.
Nicolas Cage delivered a solid performance, as you can clearly tell the actor had a joyous time playing himself. Nicolas Cage did an accurate portrayal of playing himself, as one whom has met the man in person, him being a really nice friendly being who can appear goofy now and then was on the money. Pedro Pascal played a pretty good performance as Javi aka The Nick Cage superfan, I felt both actors had terrific chemistry as it comes off as a well executed bromance.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent may not be the best of Nicolas Cage films of the past few years, however I would say this is still a fun time and a cool neat idea, you can also say this would be a nice swan song for the actor too but I know retirement is not close in the works of Cage anytime soon.
Overall, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was a cool film. I recommend checking this one out, it’s a fun time. -Mitch Smietana