The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT is another instance of a movie that ends up as a discovery item, one of those “How come I never heard of this?” situations. Good reviews didn’t keep what should have been a hit from being a flop, at least financially. Maybe the title put off the cracker-fed part of the audience demo that can’t grasp a subject idea or name containing more than one or two words, or because since it starred Nicolas Cage they guessed—incorrectly yet understandably after his decade & a half run of paycheck grabs—that it would be a dog. Shout “WRONG!” like an upset Nic—because this 2022 comedy is a treat, 107 minutes of cleverness and charm that deserved a much better crowd fate. Justice will catch up in word-of-mouth afterlife, surprising those who happen upon it by happy accident or good, old-fashioned curiosity.

Cage stars ‘Nick’ Cage, a fiction version of his publicly accepted/beloved/dismissed persona, playing a self-absorbed, past shelf-life “Movie Star” desperate for a good role after visiting the cheap seats too often. His agent gets him a quick gimme for money (Nick’s in hock to hotels and his family life has frayed) by doing a private party personal appearance gig for billionaire ‘Javi Gutiérrez’ (Pedro Pascal) at the playboy’s island estate in Spain. Spurred by his younger alter ego ‘Nicky’ (CGI’d to a fare thee Nic) who pops up to goad/shame him, Nick hits it off with the personable Javi, a Cage fan gone gonzo, but then ‘real life’ barges in when CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) grab Nick and inform him that Javi is actually dangerous international arms dealer who has kidnapped the daughter of a Presidential candidate. When Nick’s ex-wife ‘Olivia’ (Sharon Horgan) and teenage daughter ‘Addy’ (Lily Mo Sheen) show up at Javi’s compound, Nick has to dig into his “shamanic instincts as a thespian” to kick ass—like Nicolas Cage would in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Etten, this fires on all cylinders, affectionately kidding the 58-year old leading man’s aura and intensive emotional delivery style and having great fun with its very idea of a script being made up as it happens while trying to solve itself. Cage gets a big round of applause for this risky blend of satire, buddy flick action, image tickling and warm-hearted escapism. Sheen, 23, the daughter of Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale, shows acting talent runs in the family, and there’s a most welcome appearance from the dreamy (we said it and won’t back down) Alessandra Mastronardi, a fave since lighting up To Rome With Love. The great Pedro Pascal could not be more charming; not only is he spot on in every role he undertakes, he’s an actor it’s impossible to dislike. His chemistry with Cage is outstanding—and whoever says these dudes aren’t familiar with ‘tripping’ has really just missed out on too much.

Shot in L.A., Hungary and Croatia (Dubrovnik posing as Mallorca), it was done for $30,000,000, but the domestic take was only $20,350,000, 53rd for the year, with another $8,816,000 internationally. Demi Moore cameos. With Paco León (wild-eyed bad guy to give it the right edge), Neil Patrick Harris, David Gordon Green, Katrin Vancova and Jacob Scipio.