Tackling more of the backlog today - I love it when stuff I’ve been waiting to watch comes on a service I’m already paying for. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love owning things - physical or otherwise - but free is the key to happiness on a budget. The trailer made this look like a hoot, and I’m positive I have seen worse Cage movies than however this one could turn out, and on top of that I’ve done two action movies - one of which with a little bit of horror thriller edge to it - back to back, so it’s only fair I give everyone a little bit of levity right? Get ready for an absolutely mouthful of movie title as we watch The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Nic Cage is playing himself - well, a movie version of himself that retains all his filmography within the movie’s world. He’s got some issues - loosing that big star status, behind on bills, in conflict with his family because of his hyper focus on himself and not really being able to just let go and be a normal person in situations where it would be relevant. He also happens to have a imaginary himself that comes up now and then to bother him. After things finally start hitting bottom, he takes a job for a birthday party, where his twisted story of friendship and growth will begin - assuming he can survive it when the CIA gets involved.

Acting here is strong. It’s nice levels of wacky and serious, and our two leads are knocking it out of the park in endearing interactions and cheese. Side crew does a fine job as well, but it’s a bit hard to square up against Pascal and Cage as they go about the runtime regardless. You’ll laugh, you’ll feel tension, you’ll feel pity - it’s not exactly the most varied roller-coaster, but it’s got enough range that it certainly escapes feeling like “just another movie” when you watch it. The chemistry between the main two is wonderful though, so I don’t think anyone - especially if your coming into it because of Cage - will complain too much about what the movie has on offer. I mean, you could find a character or two who you won’t like as much - but I’d argue in this case it’s more character then actor that’s causing it. The same problem comes up in comedy movies a bunch I feel - it’s real easy for a comedic character to go from funny to annoying if the jokes just don’t mesh with you.

Characters are perhaps a mixed package. They aren’t aggressively bad, although largely most won’t be standing out to you either. The main two have their secrets or arks - particularly our main character who get’s to go on his journey of understanding to become a better person before it’s over. Most of the side characters are just kind of there however, so although you do have some character driven stuff in the beginning to carry through to the end, it’s not like every person on screen is someone you’ll remember or even needs to be there necessarily. That said, because the main character is basically the main actor, it does lead to some interesting things as far as meta commentary intentional (I assume) or not - and we get to see him literally talking to himself and this mental idolized version of himself.

The movie isn’t huge on effects in the typical sense of explosions and creatures. We do get effects shots in here still though - both in terms of little stuff like gunshots and fancy things like our lead man talking to himself in a car or dark void. That might make it seem like there is no action based effects, but those are also still there. It’s mostly towards the end - which things kind of get alluded to within the movie itself - so you will get a little bit of car chase carnage and gunfight shenanigans to match up with things. Oh yeah, and some costumes - which we get a bunch of variety in even though it’s mostly modern stuff, so perhaps mileage will vary in how impressed you actually are about it.

Audio is well done. Balance is fine, music helps support the mood and desired effects - like whimsy or tension. Line deliveries do a treat as well, and although you might find a bunch of it to be perhaps somewhat cheesy or goofy - with varied levels of it being sensibly so, like in the drug scene - it all comes off usually feeling pretty good. It’s an enjoyable ride even though the music isn’t floating in my head afterwards as usual - and some of the lines really just get the follow through support from the actors and their body language. When it comes to jokes, comedy is always a subjective thing so I know I laughed a good few times over the run time. It has a charm, and some of the jokes are certainly dumb, but it felt less like a Superbad and more like a self referential thing a lot of the times. Situationally wacky, and for sure the over the top on drugs scene is probably the highlight of the energy the movie plays with, but I won’t blame a person if they watch it and just go “these jokes aren’t really for me.” Still, some word play, some situational stuff, and also a bit of slapstick in there as well.

I think the part that has the most to it is the part I generally talk the least about. Yeah, the “thinking person” part I so regularly relegate to a sentence and then show myself out for. The entire movie has a layer of meta to it, talking about not just the normal things like the ups and downs of being an actor - like Cage in specific - but also literally the movie itself. At times, the movie will actually tell you how it’s going to play out in ways you might not really pay attention to - and by the end your like “yep, they used it all didn’t they.” Through that, you get a lot of stuff to think about if you choose to - but you don’t have to chase those threads if you, like me, generally don’t. That said, the parts relative to our main character growing to better interact with his family and becoming perhaps a better person through his interactions with this wacky other individual is pretty obvious, so there will still be some stuff that comes to the top through the drama and human parts without deep introspective thinking.

It was fun. I had fun. It has a wide range of things that make it pretty approachable for a wide variety of people - although I know how some people have those actors that they just can’t stand for whatever reason and if the main two are one of those for you I can’t see it changing your opinion despite them all doing a pretty good job here. For the folks that come in for the laughs, I think it’s got a good amount of them to be had, and it blends a bunch of different stuff both serious and silly to help keep you interested in something that is largely a character piece at the start that slowly plays out into something that’s much more. The only real unbearable thing here is just how much of a mouthful the title is I say.

@IMDB

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)