Film Review: THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT (2022): Nicolas Cage Plays Himself in Entertaining but Overlong Action/Comedy

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Tom Gormican and written by Tom Gormican and Keven Etten and starring Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Paco Leon, Neil Patrick Harris, Lily Mo Sheen, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Katrin Vankova, Demi Moore, Anna MacDonald, David Gordon Green, Ike Barinholtz and Joanna Bobin.

How much you enjoy the new movie buff’s buddy movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, will depend on your knowledge of the work of Nicolas Cage. In the film, Cage plays Nick Cage, a washed-up version of himself. Nick takes a gig that will become his most exciting one ever as the film’s main story line begins.  At least initially, however, it’s not a movie role. More on that later, though.

A review of this film depends on letting readers know where you stand on the career of Cage. I was never a fan of his action films (Con Air is probably his most popular crowd pleaser and is instantly brought up in the beginning of the new movie). It was always my desire as a young movie-goer to see Cage play a great romantic lead and in films like City of Angels and The Family Man, he did but those movies aren’t the ones that other people associate him with as much as his action movies or dramatic work. That’s OK but I wasn’t too keen on seeing another Cage action film after seeing him in a top 10 film from last year called Pig. The movie geek in me, though, was instantly intrigued by The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and, as a result, the picture is quite enjoyable although it runs on way past its welcome with a plot that isn’t too credible but who cares? You go to a movie like this for the laughs and to see Cage doing his thing which is actually being Nick Cage here.

One of the funniest things in the new comedy, which is directed by Tom Gormican, is that it brings up Cage movies I had long forgotten such as the Shirley MacLaine movie, Guarding Tess, where Cage played the other lead in the picture. It shows that even though most people don’t think of these movies, they still remain in the back of Cage fans’ memories and the new film is a good history lesson on a career which has spanned several decades.

Nick Cage in Gormican’s picture is a desperate man with familial problems and financial debts. He holds on to the better part of his career when he was living the more glamorous career of being “Nicky” Cage. He owes over a half million dollars to the hotel he stays at and auditions for David Gordon Green for a new role to little degree of success. His agent is Richard Fink (Neil Patrick Harris) and Fink gives Cage the opportunity for a well-paying gig that may just help him out. A rich fan of Cage’s named Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) is offering the star $1 million to be on an island for a party that is about to occur. Cage reluctantly accepts the job and the plot kicks into motion.

Of course, Javi has a potential script that he has worked on, and he wouldn’t mind if Cage helped him out with getting it made. The two men bond and, even at the price tag Cage is being rented for, Javi seems to have gotten a pretty sweet deal.

Recently, it had been made known that Paddington 2 was one of the most well-reviewed movies of all-time even going so far, at one point, to become ranked higher than Citizen Kane on Rotten Tomatoes. This new picture gets to mention that teddy bear movie and one wonders if the filmmakers aren’t being too clever for their own good here with things such as this. It gets to the point that the average movie-goer will think certain scenes are just plain bizarre without knowing all the backstory. This is good for the knowledgeable viewer but utterly useless for an everyday Cage fan.

When CIA agents Vivian (the great Tiffany Haddish) and Martin (Ike Barinholtz) arrive on the scene, we learn Javi’s lifestyle could be a front for some rather illegal activity (shades of Cage’s Lord of War) and that a politician’s daughter, Maria (Katrin Vankova), has been kidnapped. Cage thus takes on the role of “acting” in a real-life movie of sorts as he must try to locate Maria and make it all seem like a film project that Javi and Cage will be collaborating on.

What’s a movie focused on the career of Cage without the much-adored Face/Off being mentioned? It is in a very funny scene that includes a wax replica of Cage from that film. Then, we get more interaction between Javi and Cage but keep in mind the sequence where the wax figure is displayed because a key ingredient of the scene will come back later.

Paco Leon serves as Lucas, Javi’s cousin, and the real kidnapper. This point of the film is when the movie gets to be overkill and even though it brings Cage back into the action picture game, it loses a bit of steam despite the action scenes because some of the good-natured humor that preceded them gets lost in the shuffle. Sharon Horgan and Lily Mo Sheen play Cage’s wife and daughter and do decent work in the movie but, later on, they detract from the overall feel that is established by the movie’s central scenes between Cage and Pacal who have a terrific rapport together on screen.

Cage won his Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas and was once a very serious actor so to see him poke fun at himself has its pros and cons. It’s cute to see Cage having fun but, at the same time, the movie loses its way towards the end making the picture a bit more conventional than it could have been. It’s still entertaining for the majority of the film’s duration and has plenty of jokes for movie buffs that will make it well worth the price of admission.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent should be seen by any and all Cage fans, nevertheless. Each person will come into the film with a different expectation, and something tells me action fans will adore the movie. I think some of the insights will fly way above the heads of some viewers, but you know what? Some may have flown past me, and I’ve been watching Cage movies ever since the beginning of his career. It’s fun to see a risky film that actually works, and this is just that type of movie.

Rating: 7.5/10

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