#The unbearable weight of massive talent movie

There’s even a recurring bit where a manic, Wild at Heart-era Cage materializes out of thin air to argue with modern-day Cage.

#The unbearable weight of massive talent movie

His fears only grew when he learned that the “Nicolas Cage” character in the movie would be near broke, living in a hotel, quasi-estranged from his wife and teenage daughter, and reduced to making a personal appearance at a birthday party for a wealthy fan in order to pay off his debt. So will most of his fans, Javi included.When Nicolas Cage was first approached about playing a slightly psychotic version of himself in the movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, he was more than a little hesitant about signing on. Though he may fret that the life-or-death stakes are real now (and this time, it’s personal), he clearly digs it. “Nicolas Cage” is being forced to live out a plot we’d expect from a Nicolas Cage movie, with car chases and heavily-armed standoffs and macho monologues. The film loses some of its wild-card flavor as it approaches the end: Stuffing the script with self-referential dialogue about the compromises filmmakers must make to reach an audience is clever, but not enough to make the forthcoming action-flick beats less generic. Pascal’s biggest roles to date have found him hidden under the Mandalorian’s beskar helmet or transformed by the retro-extreme stylings of Wonder Woman 1984 here, fans will relish being able to see him act sans distractions. Gormican and Kevin Etten’s script plays with the uncertainty, giving Pascal a couple of opportunities to play scenes that can be read both ways. He takes the mission, but it’s hard for Cage to believe that this boyishly enthusiastic man, given to gushy statements like “whether you like it or not, you have a gift!,” can really be a villain. In the role of a lifetime, he’ll have to play James Bond while continuing to earn the trust of his new bro. Given his privileged guest status at Javi’s compound, the feds want Cage to do some spy work and rescue the girl.

Hoping to influence an election, he has abducted the president of Catalonia’s daughter. Then Cage is contacted by two CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, both in great form), who reveal that Javi is the head of a global crime organization. The two bond in a day of drinking, driving and cliff-diving, Cage and Pascal enjoying an immediate chemistry that will sustain the film through its rare dicey moments. Caught in the right mood at Javi’s seaside estate, Cage responds favorably to the billionaire’s worshipful pitch. Javi idolizes the actor unbeknownst to Cage, he has written a screenplay he hopes his idol will star in. What he does get is an offer he wishes he could high-mindedly dismiss: a million-dollar payday, just to fly to Mallorca for the birthday party of olive magnate Javi Gutierrez (Pascal). Having made a string of critical and commercial failures, he’s so hungry for a comeback (“not that I went anywhere!”) that he stands at a valet station and performs an unsolicited audition for a terrified-looking David Gordon Green. He failed as a husband to Sharon Horgan’s Olivia, and his sincere attempts to bond with their daughter Addy (Lily Sheen) always wind up being more about him than her. Though he enters the film with a very in-character whoo-ah of enthusiasm, Cage’s “Nicolas Cage” soon reveals his vulnerabilities. But those who accept that it will never be as unpredictable as the man himself should find much to enjoy - especially given the addition of Pedro Pascal, who steals several scenes from a performer who’s nearly impossible to ignore. Laced with truly hilarious moments, it’s less daring than one might hope given its conceit, Eggersian title and Charlie Kaufman-seasoned icon-star.

Though not solely for superfans, it plays best for those who appreciate a hard-to-untangle knot of realness, fakeness, vanity, artistry, self-commentary and pure comedy. Inventing a fictionalized version of the actor who struggles to live a human life while being goaded toward grrrreatness by the ghost of his wild-at-heart younger self, Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a romp aimed at cultists who have sought out the Crazy Cage performances and forgiven the misfires in between. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish