The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a hilariously self-indulgent action comedy that magnifies the ESSENCE of what Nicolas Cage has become while serving as a love letter to cinema and storytelling. This is the “CAGIEST” NIC CAGE film yet!
Playing a fictional version of himself, Cage is, yet again, at a crossroads between his career and his family. Unfortunately for him, the Cage fandom complicates things as he gets caught up in a ludicrous undercover CIA kidnapping plot where he’s enlisted to get intel on a crazed super fan.
Honestly, that whole CIA plot feels lazy. Putting our protagonist in an outlandish circumstance feels more befitting of a stand-up comic, not a legend of Cage’s ilk. His grasp on the reality that he may yet again be in the twilight of his career is the human story we care about. The meta-ness of who he is and where he is in this film juxtaposed with the renaissance he’s experiencing in real life is a fascinating examination on movie stardom.
There’s a much better story buried underneath this film and the evidence of it is in everything between Cage and Pedro Pascal. The chemistry between them is out-of-this-world and deserves another solo adventure. Their friendship unleashes situational comedy that isn’t bad even though it serves as the foreground to a B-Story that barely works. But, when that friendship gets going the going gets great! If only the rest of the film was as tender as their connection.
This film is far from Unbearable and is very reminiscent of studio comedies from the 80’s and 90’s. The weight of this conventional studio comedy leaves room for the magic of Nic’s life to really thrive. And the narrative is elevated by the massive talent on display by this dynamic duo and the supporting cast. Lastly, his outlook on Hollywood, and his place in it, gives that cinematic endearment that Nic Cage fans come to the theaters for.
