The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Tiffany Haddish, and Neil Patrick Harris, with cameos from Demi Moore and David Gordon Green
Grade: A+

As probably the biggest Nicolas Cage fan you know, this movie answered all of my prayers.

Summary

As a young Spanish couple watch Con Air, abductors break into their house and beat them down.

In Los Angeles, California, icon Nicolas Cage has a meeting at a restaurant with director David Gordon Green about how excited he is for Green’s new film. After their conversation goes well and Green is about to leave, Cage does an impromptu reading of his part to impress, but he instead shocks Green because of how off it was. As Cage rides home thinking he nailed it, his younger self, “Nicky”, appears next to him via his imagination in the passenger’s seat, telling him how he really “needs this” and how he needs to act more like a movie star and less like an actor. After “kicking him out of the car”, Cage heads over to meet his therapist to discuss where his career is at and how he feels. The therapist relays this to his relationship with his daughter Addy (Lily Sheen), who is also there but uninterested in the meeting and barely listening. She asks Addy about their relationship and that’s when she starts to become engaged. Addy complains, saying that all they talk about is Cage’s career and how he has her watch old movies to discuss them afterwards, though it turns into him lecturing about them. She’s not really interested in the things Cage is. For instance, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of Cage’s favorite films, but she didn’t like it at all, even though Cage thought she did. He then ignores this and changes the subject, something he does a lot in their relationship. Eventually, they go back home and Addy heads straight for her room, as Cage talks with his ex-wife Olivia (Horgan) about Addy not liking his more mature taste in cinema.

Olivia is annoyed with Cage being surprised that a teenage girl isn’t interested in a hundred-year-old German movie. Nevertheless, she reminds him to show up for Addy’s birthday party that night.

Cage meets up with his agent Richard Fink (Harris), and they try to de-stress by going to some bathhouse. Fink brings up another offer: $1 million to show up at a birthday party. Cage is offended at the offer because he basically is a clown in this scenario, but Fink counters with how he talked to Cage’s business manager, outing him on the fact that he owes $600,000 to Sunset Tower for staying there for over a year. On top of already existing debt, his recent divorce, and his spending habits in general, Cage may have to consider this embarrassing birthday party offer. He keeps his spirits up however, talking about the potential comeback tour he’ll be on (not that he went anywhere) once he gets the role in the David Gordon Green movie. He goes to Addy’s birthday party at the house and immediately gets a call from Fink, telling him he didn’t get the part. As the party is in full swing, Cage gets drunk in a hurry. He further embarrasses himself, and Addy, by singing a song while playing the piano in front of all the partygoers, mixing in his angry feelings on losing the part. Following Olivia driving him to the Sunset Tower and telling him to clean up his act, he finds that he’s locked out of his room as well. Realizing there’s nowhere else to turn, he calls Fink to tell him he’ll accept the birthday party job, but he’s quitting acting altogether once it’s done. On his flight to Mallorca, Spain, Cage sees on the news that the daughter of presidential candidate Charles Delgado was kidnapped. This girl was the one in the opening of the film.

He turns the channel to see himself in 1996’s The Rock. After sighing, he turns off the TV and takes a drink.

At the airport, CIA agents Vivian (Haddish) and Martin (Barinholtz) plan on apprehending the head of the Calabero crime family in Sergio Baldassari on the jet that just arrived, but Martin stops the plan in its tracks after seeing that Nicolas Cage of all fucking people is the only one to get off it. He’s uneasy about it all and tells Vivian to leave, but she decides to not give up just yet. When Cage walks in, she acts like she’s a fan to approach him. After complimenting his work in The Croods 2 and taking a selfie with him, she plants a tracking device on him. Soon after, Cage is driven directly to a boat with Javi (Pascal) driving it. Not knowing who Javi is, he takes a call from Fink as soon as he gets on the boat and asks him who he is dealing with. One of Fink’s assistants tells Fink that the guy owns olive groves, and he wrote a screenplay for a film he wants Cage to star in. Fink tells the guy to throw the screenplay away without telling Cage but does his best in calming Cage’s nerves. Once they arrive, Cage tells Javi he’s not doing anything sexual for whoever hired him but is startled to find out that Javi is the man who hired him after all. He recovers by introducing himself. Later, Javi talks with his assistant Gabriela (Alessandra Mastronardi) about how their initial meeting went. It turns out that Javi is a superfan of Cage and is in awe of his presence. She asks if Cage brought up his screenplay, but Javi tells her that it wasn’t the right time and neither one of them mentioned it. She encourages him to bring it up though, noting how cool it would be to announce at the birthday party that Nicolas Cage is starring in a movie he wrote.

Javi goes to Cage as he lounges by the pool. As he tries to bring up the screenplay to him, he’s interrupted by his cousin Lucas (Paco León) and Gabriela. Gabriela asks Cage what he’s doing next, but he tells her he’s retired and goes on a depressing mini-rant, worrying Javi and her. She tries to change the subject by asking about The Rock, but after Lucas gives him shit for not being a big movie star anymore like he was during that timeframe, Cage walks directly into the pool with a drink in hand (similar to the scene in Leaving Las Vegas), trying to drown himself. Javi saves him. Following a nap, Gabriela wakes Cage up and forces him to go on a little trip with Javi to see these special cliffs in the area. Despite still being hungover and jet lagged, he goes, but he’s noticeably not feeling it. Out of nowhere during the ride, Javi parks the car and tells Cage to follow him, acting as if they are both in danger. He puts on this whole charade of a fake backstory and characters to make it seem like this big thing, but Cage sees through it. After an impassioned speech from Javi who pleads with Cage to not quit acting because he has a gift, Cage relents and gets into character for him as they both jump off a cliff together and into the water below. After this, the two start to bond. They smoke a little, discuss relationships, family, and their love of movies. They discuss their favorite movies too, with Javi really winning him over with his list.

1. Face/Off
2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
3. Paddington 2

The last choice is a bit random and even Cage is confused by it at first but after they watch it together, he’s moved to tears and agrees with him. That night, they hang out in the pool, and Javi asks about his screenplay. Confused, Cage admits he never got it from his agent but agrees to read it right then and there. He sends it but after Cage offers to make a day of it, Javi leaves because he’s getting too nervous. Before he goes though, Cage graciously tells him how much fun he had today. Later that night, he goes for a drink at a bar in town and gets another visit from his younger self, Nicky. Nicky trashes Cage’s decision to potentially go for smaller, more challenging character roles and hits him because of it. After reminding him of the star he is, he makes out with Cage and leaves. Following Cage’s exit from the bar, agents grab him and throw him in a van. As the van drives off, Vivian and Martin explain what’s going on. They explain that Javi is the head of a violent international arms cartel, and his men kidnapped Maria Delgado two days ago to force her father out of the election to make way for someone more “cartel-friendly”. They need to access Javi’s security cameras, but they can’t because it’s too hard to get into his compound, so they want Cage to enter the fray and do some spy work. Though he doesn’t believe “nice guy” Javi is capable of such things, he’s pressured into doing it after Vivian brings up the fact that Cage has a daughter too and would know how bad he would feel if he didn’t help save this girl when he had the chance.

At the birthday party the next night, Vivian and Martin talk to Cage through an earpiece to tell him what to do. They say they’ll create a brief power blip big enough to reboot all the security cameras. This gives Cage a little over four minutes to set the cameras.

Once he gets to the security room and starts going to work, a guard heads his way. Martin reminds Cage of an incapacitating agent he gave him that is a sliver of small plastic. All he has to do is touch it to someone’s skin, and they’ll pass out. Unfortunately, he accidentally touches his forehead when looking for a hiding place before the guard gets there, and he starts to immediately feel the effects. The room he went to is also locked, so he’s forced to climb on the window ledge to get back into the security room before he passes out entirely. Once the security guard checks the room and leaves, Cage is able to get in the room and just barely stab himself with the antidote. After recovering, Vivian and Martin tell Cage their intel suggests that Maria is on the compound right now. Because of this, they need Cage to figure out a way to stay at Javi’s place a little longer to help find her. Just as Javi begins his speech, Cage rejoins the party. Javi talks about the difficulties he had with his father and how when his dad was sick, they surprisingly bonded after watching Guarding Tess on the hospital TV. Moved by his speech but worried about what could come next, Cage thanks him and announces that he read his screenplay, and it was fantastic. Though he doesn’t want to be in it, he wants to stay longer with Javi to come up with their own movie together, and Javi wholeheartedly agrees. Now, Cage has to figure out where this girl is being held with the added hurdle of Javi constantly wanting to work with him on the new movie. The problem is that not only does Cage start to become invested in this fake movie, but his friendship with Javi continues to grow, making his job that much more difficult.

My Thoughts:

Even if I wasn’t a superfan of Nicolas Cage, I would still consider this to be an objectively great movie. However, since I am a superfan, I loved every second of it.

Where the character of “Nick Cage” ends and the real Nicolas Cage begins is hard to say. Yes, Cage has said in plenty of interviews that he’s nothing like the fictionalized version of himself in this movie, but that doesn’t keep us from appreciating this version of the screen legend. Maybe the real Cage is far off, but him playing the “character” of Cage was what the fans wanted. This is the drinker, the “wildman”, the eccentric, and the passionate cinema lover with a troubled personal life who we love unconditionally. This Nicolas Cage was written from a fan’s perspective, and you can tell. Director and co-writer Tom Gormican was a huge fan and tried to get Cage to do the film for several years, but he wasn’t into it. Any of us would be hesitant too. When you look at it from a glance, you would think it’s a parody of Cage and his life, along with being a rather pedestrian action comedy. I’ll tell you right now though, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, certain aspects of his life and public persona are poked fun at for comedic purposes, but it wasn’t done in a mean-spirited way. Most of it was done to serve the “Nick Cage” character of this narrative Gormican helped cook up, adding lots of fun humor to an already crazy story. It also rewards fans for what they know of Cage. What made him popular with so many fans was his weird, avant-garde approach to some of his acting roles, going all-out almost all the time, especially in his non-blockbuster roles. Numerous times throughout The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, we see the ticks and exuberant energy that made him the unforgettable star he is known to be when the spotlight is on him.

Right after the opening, we see him screaming at the top of his lungs to a song in his car, he does an off-the-wall read for a part that surely would become one of the over-the-top characters he’s known for in real life (if he got it), and we see him lose it on more than one occasion when the plot kicks into high gear.

His spending habits and debt have been well-documented as well, so if you’re making a movie about the man, it’s fun to address it in the amusing way they do here. The funniest example had to have been when Javi shows Cage his room full of Nicolas Cage memorabilia.

By the way, not calling this room “The Cage” is a major missed opportunity.

The room is filled with numerous props from previous Cage movies and other Cage-related merchandise, and it’s capped off with a life-sized statue of his character Castor Troy from Face/Off. After Javid admits he paid several thousand for it, Cage offers $20,000 for it even though he refers to it as “grotesque”. This is the type of humor we’re playing with and though it does help if you know more about Cage before you watch the film, not knowing the eccentric man that he is might make it just as entertaining, since you’re learning about the icon through Javi’s fan perspective. The reason Cage said “Yes” to this movie was not because the film focused all of its energy on making fun of him. It’s so much more than that, and it shows when Cage and Javi describe the movie they want to make. The movie, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is about friendship, spearheaded by a nuanced, character-driven focus. Additionally, it’s a battle within Cage’s inner self, as he struggles with being the actor he wants to be and the big-name movie star he used to be. This gives us the highly memorable exchanges between Nick and “Nicky”, an imagined version of Cage’s younger, unpredictable self, modeled after his famous appearance on the talk show Wogan and his role in Wild at Heart. Nicky is the intensified persona Cage cultivated over the years, which is essentially a lit stick of dynamite masquerading as a person. This part of Cage’s personality knows “they” deserve better and tells him this on a consistent basis. Nicky argues that Nick deserves to be selecting “movie star” roles. He’s worked too hard to do anything less, which is a stark contrast to the real Cage, who explains how he likes challenging character work in supporting roles, along with just working as an actor in general to pay the bills.

This struggle between these two sides of himself may not only creep into the head of the real Cage, but it’s also been a common criticism from fans and critics alike because of where his career has taken him in the last decade or so. Despite already having so much trouble with these two sides of himself, there’s a third layer to the “character” of Cage: the father/husband.

This is the undiscovered part of Cage in which he struggles with so mightily. He’s blind to it at first, with only his ex-wife trying to show him this reality, but he ignores it because he’s so fixated on the next “big part” on the next “big film”. He loves his family, but he doesn’t know how to switch evenly between his home life and career. He’s already battling with his movie star self and actor self, but he struggles the most as a father. Though he goes to therapy and such and is a presence in Addy’s life, he can’t seem to figure out where the disconnect lies. Sadly, the answer to all three personality problems is the same: it’s him. This is what makes our protagonist so interesting, as he’s being pulled into three different directions while having to deal with the main plot at hand. Cage doesn’t know where to balance things, he doesn’t know when it’s not about him, and he doesn’t know what will truly make him happy. Sure, he could get that next role, but where does it end? His relationship with his family is what makes it worth it. He just hasn’t realized this fact yet.

“There is no script for parenting.”

Though you may have heard this before, I’m sure many within the film industry connect with this line more than anyone. Cage is no different. Though his string of marriages in real life have been highly publicized, he is still a family man who takes this part of his life very seriously, even though he still may not know what to do. Based off of what we know about him though, adding this element of his life into this screenplay isn’t a gut shot to him, it’s a discussion that adds a lot to the “character” of Nick Cage. Because of this, he’s able to draw from his real-life experience in his relationships to add to his performance believably, adding more conflict to his character arc and giving him another hurdle to get to the ultimate goal of becoming a better version of himself. The “Nick Cage” character arc is fascinating to watch in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and is my biggest selling point of the movie. Seeing all facets of Cage in what we know of him and what we think of him, are all addressed and put together in this larger-than-life presentation that is a must-see for all fans of the screen legend. It gives us an electric third act where Cage is forced to combine all three versions of his personality, making one complete Cage, to not only try to overcome the bad guys but the problems in his personal and professional life too. This film doesn’t shy away from Cage’s real feelings. He takes everything head on, making it a big part of his inner struggle with himself as the rest of the plot moves forward.

Not only are these scenes with Nicky discussing such topics hilarious (The “You tell ’em! Nick Cage smooches good!” scene is worth the price of admission alone), but this look into the inner psyche of Cage is one of the many reasons as to why this film is so damn entertaining. After he makes out with himself and a glossy-eyed Cage asks for another drink, we know we are in for a fucking trip.

Even with so many elements of comedy, this film is still an ode to an acting icon, a reminder to mainstream audiences how good Nicolas Cage was, can be, and still is. I know it took some convincing to get Cage to go along with this idea, but what I enjoyed most about the narrative of this film is how much of the script and plot progression mirrored his real life. As we see Javi try to reignite the fire within Cage and convince him to not retire from acting by trying to act like they’re in danger, it felt like what director Tom Gormican probably went through in convincing Cage to join the project because not only was it an ingenious idea of a film, but it was also written as a homage to him. When Javi jumps the gun by saying, “Turning you back on your gift (with the sun beaming behind him) is like turning your back on the human race”, it felt as though Gormican was speaking to Cage, pleading with him to do the movie for the fans that love the man, despite the obvious overstatement. To further this mixing of real-life drama and how the movie is written, there’s a portion of the film where Cage and Javi discuss how to make their own movie, where they should take it, and what it should focus on. As they ride together after Javi gives him LSD (as Cage hysterically texts Vivian that he had no choice because it was a “Donnie Brasco type situation”), they both agree that it should be character-driven. Eventually, they agree it should be about their friendship. They even acknowledge that a “drug scene” would be cool. They’re talking about it just as it unfolds onscreen for us to see, but it feels so natural and free flowing that we go right along with it.

Later, he even relates his character in Guarding Tess to the new mission he’s faced with, explaining to Javi that the character of Doug Chesnic had “competing allegiances” and that being in the “skin of a character like that can take its toll”. It’s all sewn together perfectly.

It even mirrors what I imagine the real-life process of what Gormican must’ve went through to get this film made, brilliantly interweaving it all into the plot. As they inch closer to finding the kidnapped girl, Vivian suggests to Cage that he adds in a kidnapping plot to their fake movie to hook audiences. Cage is against this idea because it’s not the grounded, character-driven story that him and Javi want to tell, but she argues this will give it a wider appeal, forcing him to agree. Ironically enough, this is exactly how The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was marketed and it bombed at the box office, even though I agree with the added kidnapping subplot being needed. To me, this felt like what Gormican wanted to do because as you watch this film, it’s very obvious that the movie’s strongest points are its focus on the characters and the relationships they build. The kidnapping plot is very secondary and seems to be added just to give us some action. Again, it was still necessary as it gives our beloved characters something exciting to be involved in, but the fact that the film’s strongest points have nothing to do with the action show us the real process in how this film was written. It felt a lot like the meta commentary present in The Matrix Resurrections.

*The only negative about this film is Ike Barinholtz’s Martin character. He tries to get as much comedy out of his role as possible but every annoyed rant he has feels incredibly forced. Tiffany Haddish playing her role straight was a breath of fresh air though.*

At the center of it all, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a buddy picture. It gives us one of the most genuine fictional friendships we’ve seen in years with Cage and innocent superfan Javi, played by the warming presence of the charismatic and wonderfully charming Pedro Pascal. You know when you see someone in a film and like the person so much that you want to see everything that they’re in? Pascal’s performance did exactly that for me. He was phenomenal and was just as important to the success of this film as Cage himself. The character of Javi was so damn likable. His love of everything Cage mirrored exactly the cult following that has surrounded the star throughout his film career. We can feel the connection the two have when we see Javi so happy hanging out with him, as they discuss cinema and their love of obscure films. Right from the get-go, when Cage does the “Nick Cage” hand signal greeting, something I will forever do until the end of time, we see Javi how he sees Cage. Soon after, when Gabriela tries to convince Javi to bring up his screenplay, he freaks out because he doesn’t want to seem too pushy, arguing, “The man is a legend”. Of course, this perfectly segues into an open-robed Cage by the poolside, as he drinks himself into oblivion. Honestly, you can’t explain things much better than that. To Javi, he looks like the movie star legend he’s always loved but as we look closer, the audience sees the depressed drunk we have been exposed to up until this point in the film. It doesn’t matter to Javi though. He’s enamored with him. When Cage mentions how he met his now ex-wife on the set of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Javi immediately praises it as a beautiful film, but he’s not blowing smoke up his ass. Javi genuinely believes it, and you can see that.

I also love when Cage responds right away concerning the film with, “Thank you. Underrated for sure” and goes back to his story without missing a beat, giving us another golden comedic moment in a film full of them.

As these two get closer and have these enriching, movie-loving conversations, everything feels so organic in how it builds. It all starts with the simple, “What’s your favorite movie?” question. Considering how important movies are to my life, I’ve always thought how difficult this was to answer. Cage shares these sentiments exactly, arguing that with a “hundred plus years of cinema, you can’t just limit it to one” because it depends on so many different factors like mood, season, and whatever else. For the first time, someone expressed my thoughts exactly as a movie fan, perfectly explaining how impossible this question is for those who have dedicated their lives to the art form.

Am I surprised that this answer came from my favorite actor? Not in the slightest. As we know, great minds think alike.

Because of this, and Javi’s understanding of Cage, I couldn’t help but hang on to every word of the conversations they were having. Once Javi admitted his love for Paddington 2, and the subsequent references to the family film throughout, it made me want to watch the movie out of respect. The two were so fun together, and Cage and Pascal’s rapport with each other being the centerpiece of the film was something we didn’t know we needed. They definitely downplayed it in the marketing but when you watch the film, you’ll realize how essential it is to the narrative’s success. Take for instance, the scene in which Cage and Javi are on LSD, and they try to climb over a wall to escape people that aren’t actually chasing them. Javi helps Cage up the wall, but Cage can’t lift him. In an emotional state, Javi pleads with Cage to go on without him, acting as if they’re both making this major sacrifice. After all of this, it’s revealed that they could’ve just walked around the wall, so everything ends up being fine. Now, this is a corny scene that has been done in several cheap comedic films and animated movies for a stupid laugh since the dawn of film. In the wrong hands, this scene would’ve come off in a similar manner. However, this film was in the right hands. Somehow, it’s handled in such a way that you appreciate this relatively stupid joke and laugh wholeheartedly at how emotional the two get in the scene. Cage is downright screaming over losing his friend, and it’s hysterical. Immediately after, Javi walks around the wall to reveal everything is fine, and the two bypass how stupid the situation was. We just go right to the ear-to-ear smile Cage has once he sees his best friend is still alive, even though he was never in any danger.

Shortly after this is when Javi officially comes to the aforementioned revelation that the movie they want to make should be about their relationship. At that point in the film, you’re all-in on the concept because once again, that’s what this movie is all about. Even in this short period of time, the bond they form is unbreakable. So, when Cage argues with Martin and Vivian that his “Nouveau Shamanic” acting ability (that he has taken credit in inventing) trumps the CIA’s research in how to understand people, we can’t help but agree with Cage. We’ve seen him interact with Javi. There’s no way this man is as evil as the CIA says he is, even with their five years of hard data.

There’s a real sense that the two men appreciated each other’s company, whether it be as actual actors or the characters they’re playing. When the third act comes and the stakes are at its highest of peaks because of the loads of misinformation given to the both of them, we are given an awesome climax that not only satisfies Nicolas Cage fans, but it serves the purpose of the story, the character of “Nick Cage”, and beautifully ties every loose end together in an intense action extravaganza, satisfying the fans of “movie star” Cage as well. As soon as we see the reflection of Cage’s face match the ugly statue of Castor Troy, you know the fight is on.

“Action hero” Cage is one of my favorite versions of him too, so even though I love his character work, I’m glad we got to see every facet of the icon come together in some way, shape, or form.

At one point, the two men acknowledge everything happening around them in terms of the story and what the final product of what their movie could be, and Cage admits that at this point, “There’s something for everyone”. It’s true. Even though this is a Nicolas Cage movie through and through, it’s a highly entertaining, nuanced, character-focused action comedy filled with humor, love, emotion, seriousness, and intensity. It also has the added bonus of an introspective look on families, life, one’s career and how everyone can be impacted by it. He’s right. This film truly has something for everyone. This movie was fantastic, and I’m hoping it will give Cage a new crop of fans who will appreciate his talents as the acting giant he is.

Some may be surprised at this statement, asking just like Lucas does, “Nick fucking Cage?”. Well, you now have the right to correct anyone who argues differently with how the man himself retorted, “Nick motherfucking Cage!”.

Currently, I can say with the utmost confidence that the argument for best movie of 2022 belongs to Top Gun: Maverick and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Now, I’m just hoping that this movie becomes the catalyst for Cage’s Hollywood comeback…

…not that he went anywhere of course.