The film in which Nicolas Cage famously plays an onscreen version of . . . Nicolas Cage, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent is a film that obviously depends on how much you like Nicolas Cage. But that is something you could say about almost every Cage vehicle. This just happens to be his best film in quite a few years.
Cage is in a bit of a rut. His stock seems to be low, he has problems staying on good terms with his ex-wife (Sharon Horgan) and his daughter (Lily Mo Sheen), and he seems to be in the midst of a crisis that has no end in sight. Then his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) offers him a gig that could turn everything around, a payday for visiting a superfan named Javi (Pedro Pascal). Nick and Javi start getting on really well, which makes it a tough break when two agents (Tiffany Hadish and Ike Barinholtz) collar Cage and ask him to help them. It appears that Javi is a MAJOR criminal, and he may well have a kidnapped girl hidden away somewhere in his compound.
Although I was happy to see this film, and to see the positive reception it received, I must admit to also resenting those who seem to represent the majority viewpoint depicted here. There are a lot of people who dismiss Cage, who have viewed him as a bit of a punchline, who won’t watch most movies that he stars in. It’s their loss. Yes, his movie choices over the past decade have been a bit hit and miss, with quantity overshadowing quality, but Cage is always aiming to do what he does best, and any career renaissance being touted now is touted from people who have decided to selectively forget the gems that remain strewn throughout every period of his extensive filmography.
Putting that aside, however, this is about as good as it gets for a comedy crafted around the perceived persona, and key films, of a majorly divisive movie star. The affection for Cage is obvious, and the material, and gags, work brilliantly while weaving from the universal to the very star-specific. Comedy fans should enjoy this, film fans will love it, and Cage fans should REALLY love it. Director Tom Gormican, who also wrote the script with Kevin Etten, does a superb job of balancing the various elements, from the sheer Cage factor of Cage to the bromance that blossoms at the heart of the film, from the family problems that our hero is unable to face head on, to the brief action beats that are interspersed throughout.
The cast all do a great job, with Cage being the one most obviously deserving of praise. His performance taps into everything, good and bad, that people know, or think they know, about him. He has always had an interesting level of self-awareness, and this whole movie underlines that in a way that is impossible to dislike. Pascal is a lot of fun, being someone who can see no wrong in his idol, and he is amusingly oblivious to much of the plot unfolding around him. Horgan and Sheen do well in their supporting roles, as do Haddish and Barinholtz, and there are a couple of great cameos that I won’t spoil here. Paco León is also very good, playing someone related to Pascal’s character, and someone who may be more attuned to the covert mission that Cage is on.
It’s not any new cinematic milestone. Movie stars have played themselves onscreen before, and there’s more than a touch of something like ¡Three Amigos! about it, but this all blends together into something that feels wonderfully original and entertaining, with a lot of that simply being down to the Cage factor.
8/10
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