Nic Cage has been in some good movies over the years. He has also been in some very strange and downright terrible movies too. He has a reputation and frankly, a lot of people love that he fully embraces it. So in comes The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent where Nic Cage goes all-in on playing Nick Cage.
Unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, actor Nick Cage accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan’s birthday party. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission. Taking on the role of a lifetime, he soon finds himself channeling his most iconic and beloved characters to save himself and his loved ones.
Review
He is Nic fuuuucccckkkkkkking Cage. And there isn’t a moment during the film he doesn’t let you forget that. In Cage’s most self-aware film to date, he is in debt and struggling to find gigs. His family relationship is also strained as all he wants to talk about is his own films and what he likes. Things quickly head to an end of the road when he realizes nobody really wants him in anything anymore and he takes a birthday gig, you know the kind of thing you do when you are retired.
Here is where the movie starts to actually get funny in a good way and not just depressingly sad and self-deprecating in a lonely sort of way. The birthday boy is played by Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and the bromance between them is everything for this film. The film turns into a spy thriller comedy as Nic Cage is asked to help the US Government expose Pascal’s character as a crime lord and save a young girl. Things hilariously turn into a buddy comedy that includes everything from completely out-of-context funny awkward moments, an acid-trip ride down a sunny coastal road, and a prosthetics and makeup job that would make Jared Leto in Gucci blush.
If you have watched a lot of Cages movies over the years, you will catch many subtle, and many not so subtle jabs at those films throughout this movie. In the end, it was just a great, and funny film that Pascal and Cage together made work in the most adorable way at times. Whether you are an avid fan of Nic Cage or simply a casual watcher that wants to see him make fun of himself, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is one of the best comedy films I have seen in a while.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent hits theatres 4/22.
