Nicolas Cage has a lot of range. He has appeared in small films, indie films, foreign films and big-budget films and he never adheres to stereotypes or is ever typecast. I will admit he certainly has a particular style to acting where he takes performances over-the-top but he never does it for the sake of it, instead he bleeds a little of himself into his characters and thanks to this we get a plethora of characters which are memorable and unique, which brings us to his latest film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is the most Nicolas Cage film ever made.
The concept for this film is simple and yet inspired, Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself called Nick Cage where he is struggling to find work as an actor and needs money. This leads him to attend a birthday party for Javi, a super-fan of Cage's films played by Pedro Pascal, who brings Javi to life in a way that would make Nicolas Cage proud. The film becomes a “bro-mance” as the two get to know each other and start hanging out together. There is also a plot where Javi may or may not be an arms dealer and a kidnapper. What follows is Cage becoming recruited by the CIA to help provide intel of Javi’s movements. This is the bare bones of the film as there is much, much more beneath the surface.
Providing influences from films such as Last Action Hero and Being John Malkovich, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent feels very meta and the characters of Nick Cage and Javi are constantly referencing from Cage’s library of work with mentions to his previous films such as Face/Off, Con Air, The Rock and even The Croods 2. Cage revels in this, both the actor and the character, by knowingly mocking his own work and at the same time honouring the characters he has previously played too. In fact there are scenes where he talks to a younger version of himself where he has to convince himself that he is not a sell-out actor. It is in instances such as this which is where the film shines.
Once the CIA plot kicks in you might be expecting a predictable and generic plot about the two of them falling out and coming back together for an action-packed finale. Well that is not the case here. There are action elements but the film is full of surprises and twists and turns. I won’t spoil any but it is these elements of the film that provide the comedy and the banter and scriptwriting is so good that Cage and Pascal make it feel effortless and fun. The only downside is that we don’t necessarily need an antagonist to this story, plus the first half of the film appears to play it safe until Pascal’s character Javi shows up. I would happily watch another film or a television series with these two characters again as it is their chemistry that truly sells the film.
★★★★☆
4/5
The Unbearable of Weight of Massive Talent is such a fun film and with a film title like that you know what to expect when you’re walking in and trust me that is a huge compliment. Nicolas Cage has such a varied history of cinematic characters and you never realise how much he has contributed to Hollywood until you see this film. If you haven’t seen any of his biggest films then some of the jokes and gags won’t land, so only see this film if you have some relative idea of who Nicolas Cage is and the iconic films that he has starred in. Full of humour and heart, this is a film that will undoubtedly become known as Cage’s magnum opus.
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Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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