At Rock Bottom, an Actor Meets His Biggest Fan

Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal in 
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Over the years, it’s become a little hard not to find amusement in the career of actor Nicolas Cage.  He’s starred in acclaimed films like “Moonstruck,” “Leaving Las Vegas” (for which he won the Best Actor Oscar), “Adaptation,” and last year’s “Pig,” as well as blockbusters like “Con Air,” “The Rock,” “Face/Off,” and the two “National Treasure” films.  However, the last decade has seen him performing mostly in movies that are direct-to-video.  He’s an actor who has a puzzling penchant to star in anything, but also has a work ethic that’s admirable.

The topic of Cage’s colorful career is the center of Tom Gormican’s new comedy, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a wildly entertaining movie that finds Cage looking back at his work as an actor and crafting a fun adventure from it.

In Hollywood, Nicolas Cage (playing a fictionalized version of himself) can’t find good work, has a drinking problem, and doesn’t get along with his wife, Olivia (Sharon Horgan), and daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen).  Desperate for money, Cage accepts an offer for $1 million to travel to Majorca, Spain, to be a guest at a birthday celebration for billionaire playboy, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal).  As Cage’s time in Spain goes on, he and Javi begin a friendship that brings them into unexpected danger.

What’s great about Cage’s performance is that it’s not all about the off-the-rails style of acting that we’ve seen in some of his lesser movies over the last decade or so.  Instead, he portrays someone who’s witty and full of heart, but also self-destructive.  He shows the dark humor and emotion of someone who’s trying to keep it together and correct his course.  While he gets enough laughs, a lot of the comedic aspects of his character are saved for a younger, crazier version of himself that Cage hallucinates from time to time.  This all creates a fine balance between the Cage that can be a serious actor, and the Cage that make our eyes pop out of our heads with how unhinged he can be.  This is a movie that allows Cage to examine his zig-zag career, while also being a vehicle for his talents that he exhibits when he has a movie that’s worthy of them.

Pascal is terrific as Cage’s new friend and number-one fan.  He brings an endearing gleefulness to the role as tries to keep his cool around his idol and form a bond with him.  There’s a contagious energy to Pascal’s performance as he attempts to bounce movie ideas off of Cage and impress him with his admiration.  The friendship that he builds with Cage is great fun to watch as it unfolds, with the two of them steadily landing on the same wavelengths as each other and committing themselves to the wild antics that the movie throws at us.

The screenplay by Gormican and Kevin Etten may have a few too many winks to Cage’s career, but it makes up for that by crafting a narrative that’s part buddy comedy, espionage thriller, and family drama, being able to make it all work and never seem like the different tones clash.  They offer several entertaining scenes that show the growing friendship between Nicolas and Javi, providing enough weight to their bond as things become more precarious as their time together puts their lives in comical jeopardy.  

Gormican takes advantage of the film’s international locale as he constructs fun action sequences that bring us throughout Majorca.  Between the car chases and shootouts, he uses the zaniness of the on-screen chemistry between Cage and Pascal and has the unlikeliness of their friendship highlight the craziness that hits them from all sides.  His handling of both the characters and the action results in the movie never having a dull moment, offering a balance in finding the humor in the character interactions and the humor in the big set-pieces.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is a testament to the dedication that Cage has put into his work over the last 40 years, and I look forward to him having many more of them.

Grade: A-