If one is simply going by films like Face-Off, Vampire’s Kiss, Wicker Man and Ghost Rider to assess Nicholas Cage’s career, it can be easy to just write him of as just a nonstop ham who’s prone to overacting. And I’m sometimes guilty of this myself, and it doesn’t help the guy often comes off like a walking meme.
Still, I’d consider Leaving Las Vegas and Raising Arizona among some of my favorite movies period, so I’ve always felt the man’s been an intriguing figure for good reason- the dude has chops underneath all of that weirdness. But the reason the guy’s so memeable is that he saves a lot of that outrageous Cage energy for what are typically dramatic roles.
So here’s a unique project for him with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a comedic adventure with an extremely “meta” attitude to its story. As pretty much himself, Cage is at the end of his rope with his identity as an actor, losing it in a still-believable but comical fashion as he’s forced to console with his imaginary friend, a 1980s version of Nicholas Cage in a leather jacket who’s packing all of the profanity-laced and Tasmanian Devil-level energy he used to have in his glory days. Now he’s losing money fast and is reduced to appearing at birthday parties for the right price.
(Presumably) luckily, Pedro Pascal’s got a price for Cage as Javi Guiterrez, a wealthy superfan of Nicholas who hopes for the actor to star in a screenplay Javi penned himself. It seems like all’s going well as they bond over a shared affection for Pattington films, except that’s quickly interrupted by two CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) who inform Cage his new buddy’s actually part of a dangerous kidnapping ring, and a politician’s daughter has vanished. So Cage’s next role is as a bumbling Bond, trying to save this girl while also trying to maintain his and Javi’s relationship.
Pascal as Javi shows off a significant amount of comedic timing in his crime lord role. After playing the fictionalized agent Javier Pena in Narcos, his new Javi passes on the brutality of Wagner Moura’s Escobar, and is instead just a Nic Cage fanboy (with a giant shrine complete with merch, statues and National Treasure posters) and more than anything just wants a buddy more than wealth and power. It’s his cousin Lucas (a swaggering Paco Leon) who’s the real muscle behind the operation, and Nic will need all of his thespian skills to get himself, the politician’s daughter and his family out of this pickle.
Oddly enough the film works both as an effective satire and a convincing personal journey about a self-centered character learning to consider the feelings of others aside from himself. Mind you, this isn’t just a goof fest I was legit impressed by Lily Sheen’s performance as Nic’s daughter, who’s irritated both by being roped into this situation and how he’s been disregarding her own opinions and personal identity.
But this is a wild romp mostly- Massive Talent is good at getting you to care about its cast, but the only time it’s melodramatic is for comedic purposes. One scene where Cage and Javi have taken acid is one of the funniest movie scenes I’ve seen this year, as it leads to both of them acting out a proposed movie scene in the most scene-gobbling fashion possible.
This movie could have felt overly gimmicky, but Tom Gormican’s direction keeps everything fun and tongue-in-cheek generally. Nic playing a version of himself who’s stuck up his own ass is vaguely Larry David-ish, while the adventure aspect of the story makes for an enjoyably original blend of entertainment. When Hollywood makes a movie about itself, it can be in danger of a lack of self awareness, but this one knows how absurd its medium and town can be and lets its hero take the piss out of himself.
I’ll gladly recommend The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent for any long time fans of Nic Cage on top of anyone who;s interested in just watching a fun comedy with some wacky spy-themed gags. But if you want to share your opinion, holler at us at FAN’s social media spots as usual on Twitter and Facebook!