To me, the saddest element of the ever-changing film industry of the past decade or so has been the near complete disappearance of theatrically released comedies. They really don't exist anymore, almost at all. That's not to say comedies don't get made anymore, but they are made for Netflix or other streaming services. Needless to say, almost none of these are very good or even entertaining. Prior to seeing The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in theaters, the last time I saw a full-on comedy movie in theaters was Good Boys three years ago. Having said that, I don't think my want for seeing a great comedy in theaters necessarily makes my opinion of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent biased: this is an incredibly funny, imaginative, entertaining, and overlooked gem that is not only the best comedy of the year, but also the best movie Nicolas Cage has made in over a decade.
In 2022, it's easy to view Nicolas Cage as just an actor who launched a thousand memes or internet jokes, but regardless of how many ill-advised or bad direct-to-DVD films the guy makes, the fact remains that, when given a good script, the man is capable of pulling off extraordinary performances. As last year's little seen drama PIG demonstrated, Cage can still surprise with fresh, amazing (if still odd) performances that can't be found from any other actor. That's hard to emphasize when the guy is a constant fixture of Redbox kiosks everywhere, though it also makes it more surprising when he pulls off something like what he does with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. There is no more overused and annoying cliche these days than a celebrity playing a fictionalized version of themselves in a movie or TV show. I don't when exactly to pinpoint when this started, maybe the success of "Entourage" almost two decades ago. It's a staple of movies and TV shows now that I truly hate, and just find desperately lazy. So, it was to my total surprise that when Nicolas Cage makes an entire movie playing a fictionalized version of himself that he makes it feel original and heartfelt. The Nicolas Cage as played by Cage here is not a glamorous movie star with a cult status, but a sad down-on-his-luck has been who despite having a (again, fictionalized) wife and daughter, feels emptiness. He imagines an alternate version of himself and drinks in order to cope. This does not feel like the set-up to a hilarious comedy. Describing this, it makes The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent seem depressing. But what these opening scenes do is create an enormous amount of sympathy for the version of Nicolas Cage that the rest of the story will follow. And, in the process of this set-up, Nicolas Cage completely sells it. He is able to create an actual character out of this movie's version of "Nicolas Cage," which I can only imagine is insanely hard to do as an actor with 40 years of film work in the public's consciousness. His performance requires both self-awareness and a need to separate what the general public thinks of him, something that Cage pulls off masterfully.
Once the set-up is out of the way, the film really leans into the comedy aspects. Most of the laughs come almost entirely from great laugh-out-loud lines, though there are a lot of jokes about Nicolas Cage's career and specific references to his filmography. If there is a flaw in the design of the film, it's really that it make be somewhat inaccessible to those who aren't super familiar with Cage's work from the last 25 years. There are plenty of great jokes that don't rely on knowing Cage's films by heart; it just is way more enjoyable experience if you know what is being referenced. That said, there are some structural flaws as well, specifically in the way Ike Barinholtz's is character is introduced seemingly to be a major part of the movie only to all but disappear later on, almost as if there was a sudden scheduling conflict that required on-the-fly script changes. The third act also seems somewhat hastily put together, even it does seem like it's satirizing the trajectory of many Nicolas Cage movies that have come before. Nonetheless, the film is completely entertaining throughout, with great timing/pacing in almost every scene.
Despite these flaws, there's no denying that The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is unique. It manages to take what should be a tired over-done concept of a actor-as-himself and legitimately turn the idea into something that works comedically, thematically, and dramatically when necessary. That's a hard trick to pull off, especially these days. While I would never argue this is a brilliant masterpiece, this is way better than it has any right to be, and tied with PIG as the most memorable work Nicolas Cage has done in forever. In a year of disappointments, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is one of the few releases of 2022 that feels different, funny, and well worth checking out. 8/10.
In 2022, it's easy to view Nicolas Cage as just an actor who launched a thousand memes or internet jokes, but regardless of how many ill-advised or bad direct-to-DVD films the guy makes, the fact remains that, when given a good script, the man is capable of pulling off extraordinary performances. As last year's little seen drama PIG demonstrated, Cage can still surprise with fresh, amazing (if still odd) performances that can't be found from any other actor. That's hard to emphasize when the guy is a constant fixture of Redbox kiosks everywhere, though it also makes it more surprising when he pulls off something like what he does with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. There is no more overused and annoying cliche these days than a celebrity playing a fictionalized version of themselves in a movie or TV show. I don't when exactly to pinpoint when this started, maybe the success of "Entourage" almost two decades ago. It's a staple of movies and TV shows now that I truly hate, and just find desperately lazy. So, it was to my total surprise that when Nicolas Cage makes an entire movie playing a fictionalized version of himself that he makes it feel original and heartfelt. The Nicolas Cage as played by Cage here is not a glamorous movie star with a cult status, but a sad down-on-his-luck has been who despite having a (again, fictionalized) wife and daughter, feels emptiness. He imagines an alternate version of himself and drinks in order to cope. This does not feel like the set-up to a hilarious comedy. Describing this, it makes The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent seem depressing. But what these opening scenes do is create an enormous amount of sympathy for the version of Nicolas Cage that the rest of the story will follow. And, in the process of this set-up, Nicolas Cage completely sells it. He is able to create an actual character out of this movie's version of "Nicolas Cage," which I can only imagine is insanely hard to do as an actor with 40 years of film work in the public's consciousness. His performance requires both self-awareness and a need to separate what the general public thinks of him, something that Cage pulls off masterfully.
Once the set-up is out of the way, the film really leans into the comedy aspects. Most of the laughs come almost entirely from great laugh-out-loud lines, though there are a lot of jokes about Nicolas Cage's career and specific references to his filmography. If there is a flaw in the design of the film, it's really that it make be somewhat inaccessible to those who aren't super familiar with Cage's work from the last 25 years. There are plenty of great jokes that don't rely on knowing Cage's films by heart; it just is way more enjoyable experience if you know what is being referenced. That said, there are some structural flaws as well, specifically in the way Ike Barinholtz's is character is introduced seemingly to be a major part of the movie only to all but disappear later on, almost as if there was a sudden scheduling conflict that required on-the-fly script changes. The third act also seems somewhat hastily put together, even it does seem like it's satirizing the trajectory of many Nicolas Cage movies that have come before. Nonetheless, the film is completely entertaining throughout, with great timing/pacing in almost every scene.
Despite these flaws, there's no denying that The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is unique. It manages to take what should be a tired over-done concept of a actor-as-himself and legitimately turn the idea into something that works comedically, thematically, and dramatically when necessary. That's a hard trick to pull off, especially these days. While I would never argue this is a brilliant masterpiece, this is way better than it has any right to be, and tied with PIG as the most memorable work Nicolas Cage has done in forever. In a year of disappointments, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is one of the few releases of 2022 that feels different, funny, and well worth checking out. 8/10.