Massive Talent: Nic Cage’s Unbearable Weight Review, great meta

This review was originally posted with The unbearable weight of mass talentFirst screening at the 2022 SXSW vehicle show. It has been updated and republished for theatrical release.

Nicolas Kim Coppola, better known as Nicolas Cage, will be a difficult man to describe to those who are unfamiliar with his work. He’s a troublesome personality and is scrutinized by the public, an actor well received by everyone get great acclaim in serious dramas, while also making a name for himself in cheap DTV movies of dubious quality. He’s the top meme doc. He was probably more inspired by “Is he a great performer or a terrible person?” argued more than any actor of his generation. He is a prolific actor who continues to entertain the masses and elevate even weirdest little indie game he’s been into with sheer energy and charisma.

The thing about Nicolas Cage is that he also completely understands what the public wants – he’s a reflex, The performer knows the audience The player succeeds and defies expectations with every line, every expression. This is why the idea behind The unbearable weight of mass talent is a slippery slope: It is a film in which Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself (named Nick Cage, with the letter K) in a movie about the legendary Nic Cage. After Cage himself has spent the past decade, at least, playing right into the public’s idea of ​​Nic Cage’s identity, wouldn’t a super comedy about the man himself be superfluous? The answer, like everything related to Nicolas Cage, is complex. The movies work like gangster movies, and it’s a great vehicle for Cage, but not for the reasons one might expect.

Thanks to director Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten, The unbearable weight of mass talentscript of known to audiences as Cage’s performance. The moment we first see Cage’s face, he’s in his car, motivating himself for an encounter with Halloween Kills manager David Gordon Green. Cage believes a role in Green’s latest film will turn his career around and bring him back to the top – not that he ever left, as he’d like to point out. This is a work-hungry Cage, longing for the chance to tap into his love of acting and film, but the public figure follows him like a ghost, costing him the kind of role he plays. that he wants to do.

While Cage was still playing within whisper-then-scream build a lot of memes, his euphoric personality is portrayed as an animal that wants to be released, rather than Nick Cage as a whole. That personality causes a lot of problems for the Cage family, who are sick and tired because he prioritizes his work over them, and imposes his love on films like the expression film. Fritz Lang’s 1920s German classics The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari about them. The biggest surprise about The unbearable weight of mass talent it’s so sad about the career Nic Cage could possibly have, compared to the career he’s had. His struggle is here to regain the movie star status he once had within himself Wild at Heart years, because instead he’s working on an endless parade of little indies that make up a central part of the story.

In a way, the movie is reminiscent of Documentary Val Kilmer Val, similarly looking at a once-popular blockbuster star and revealing his deep sadness at being cast as an action hero, when all he wants are serious roles. more affluent and challenging, like 1996 Dr. Moreau’s Island. The great tragedy of The unbearable weight of mass talentthen, seeing Nic Cage confront the larger-than-life personality that people go crazy, his jokes about his lousy movies and his tribute to his bigger movies, while all he wants to do in the movie is talk about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Photo: Katalin Vermes / Lionsgate

Of course, things are not so simple. And as if Cage’s public image didn’t put enough pressure on him, there was also the realization of his public image: Nicky Cage, a young man, Wild at the heart-era Cage is played by Cage himself, although he is humorously assumed to be Nicolas Kim Coppola. Nicky is brought to life through some potentially gruesome de-aging process. He’s the real star of the movie, the specter of his famed past playing the role of Nick’s devil on his shoulder. He’s the inner voice that’s always questioned their decision, saying that Cage is now, more mature to stop looking for respectable gigs and just go back to being a movie star. Not that he ever left.

So it’s a pity that Nicky is mostly absent from the film, although his memorable scenes will certainly be GIFs and shared for years to come. During a Q&A after the film’s premiere, Cage admitted that his role as Nicky convinced him to join the film, but he said that many of Nicky’s scenes were cut, along with more tributes to the author. Cage’s earlier work.

While the appeal of the film is just watching Nicolas Cage act like himself, The unbearable weight of mass talent there’s still a plot – even though it doesn’t offer any experience. The story involves Cage agreeing to appear at a party for Spanish billionaire Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal), who may or may not be an arms dealer. Despite the CIA begging Cage to do some spying work for them, he eventually falls for Javi, and they become BFFs.

While it would be easy for The unbearable weight of mass talent go full Miserable About a toxic, obsessed fan, Javi is anything but. The best part of the movie is when the script allows Cage and Pascal to hang out and talk about life like they’re in a Richard Linklater movie. The two form a real connection through the movies, from Dr. Caligari the beauty of Paddington 2.

It’s weird to think that anyone other than Nicolas Cage has recorded the best performance in a movie about Nicolas Cage, but Pascal completely steals the show as Javi. He comes out with all the charisma and charm that has made him everything from Game of Thrones arrive Mandalorianand turned it into 11. Even when he showed off some quirky fan behavior, such as having a shrine to Nick Cage that included a life-size wax figure, he remained honest in his acting. His admiration cannot but stem from him.

Problem with The unbearable weight of mass talent that Gormican and Etten also want to eat their cake. After the first two seasons focused on Nick Cage’s public personality and how that influenced his life and career, and how he only made big, melodramatic action movies to Selling more serious stuff to casual audiences, the film becomes the kind of action-packed DTV movie it critiques. The film tries to appeal to every member of the Cage church, especially fans of what Gormican calls the “Cage of Derangement” in the Q&A. This makes sense from a marketing perspective, since when Cage puts his mind to that identity, he’ll play a more epic, better-known character than himself. It’s a shame, though, as the quiet, dedicated, cinema-loving Cage stands out the most, and he’s what makes the film a worthy addition to the Nic Cage mythology.

The unbearable weight of mass talent in theaters on April 22.