RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 1 HOUR 47 MINUTES
RELEASE DATE: April 22, 2022
DIRECTOR: Tom Gormican
WRITERS: Tom Gormican & Kevin Etten
STARRING:
Nicolas Cage...Nick Cage / Nicky (as Nicolas Kim Coppola)
Pedro Pascal...Javi Gutierrez
Tiffany Haddish...Vivian
Sharon Horgan...Olivia
Paco León...Lucas Gutierrez
Neil Patrick Harris...Richard Fink
Lily Mo Sheen...Addy Cage (as Lily Sheen)
Alessandra Mastronardi...Gabriela
Jacob Scipio...Carlos
Katrin Vankova...Maria
Demi Moore...Movie Actress Olivia
Anna MacDonald...Movie Actress Addy
David Gordon Green...Director
Ike Barinholtz...Martin
Luke McQueen...Allan
Joanna Bobin...Therapist
THE OFFICIAL RED BAND TRAILER
SPOILER WARNING: I WARNED YOU, DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME
I really don't know where to start with this review. That is not intended to sound like a negative comment at all. I just really want to let you know as the reader that this film was highly anticipated by me because I am a huge fan of Nick Cage as many of us are and really cannot think of a bad performance from him. Even in the films where he comes off as over the top and completely eccentric, he is still a genius in the art. Just look at the filmography. I am not going to list his credits, the man has 109 acting credits to his name. He keeps busy and keeps pumping out movies one after another all the while giving stellar performances in each feature. You can agree or disagree, I really don't care. It's how I feel.
Then when I found out that there was a movie being made with Nick Cage playing Nick Cage, I felt that they really had to get this right. I was curious about how the writers would write him into the film as himself. In my opinion when we see actors or athletes play or whoever play themselves in a film of any kind, these are typically small roles or cameos. In this case, Nick Cage is the star of the movie. One would think would he play himself seriously? Would he make fun of himself with the role? How was he going to handle this part of playing himself?
As a viewer, as a fan, I would say that he played this part exactly how he needed to. He took the role seriously while also making himself completely over the top. It is pretty well know that Nick Cage is eccentric in his own right but in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, he exaggerated it in a way that only he could while making his character completely selfish and self loving but also funny and lovable. I watched this film with my wife and we found ourselves laughing throughout most of the movie not just because a scene was funny but because of how a scene was pulled off. Could this film have been done without an actor such as Nick Cage playing himself? Could the writers have decided to just create a new character? Sure they could of. It might of worked. But making the choice that they made by allowing Nick Cage to play himself and have fun with this character was a stroke of genius.
Another stroke of genius was the inclusion of the Nicky character. Sorry I have to spoil the movie here. Be warned to stop reading here if you do not want to know this fact. The character of Nick Cage speaks to an inner mind version of himself that he calls Nicky. I read up on this character after watching the move. This version of Nick Cage is actually based off of the character Sailor Ripley from his 1990 movie Wild at Heart. The inclusion of this character added an element of comedy to this movie that was definitely not expected but highly appreciated. Nicky was my second favorite character in the movie. Don't worry, I will not spoil any more about Nicky. There is so much more to this character that I would want you to see first hand.
The other leading man in this film was just as important as Nick Cage. Pedro Pascal has incredible chemistry with Nick Cage and they come off as the closest of friends shortly after they meet. Pedro Pascal's ability to make this friendship believable is super important to this film and works so well. The best way that I can describe it without giving anything away would be the scene from Step Brothers when Brennan and Dale realize that they have so much in common and ask each other if they just became best friends. Of course it is not stated this way in the movie, but Nick Cage and the character of Javi have a moment sort of like that where they realize that they just understand each other in a way that they haven't had before. There is actually a point in this movie where the relationship plays like a buddy cop movie without it being a buddy cop movie. It was truly incredible.
Other great acting came from Sharon Horgan who played Nick Cage's ex-wife Olivia and Lily Mo Sheen who played Nick Cage's daughter Addy Cage. They played a pivotal role in making it believable that Nick Cage was they selfish single minded actor that he portrayed in the film. Without them, there may not have been such as easy sell on his lack of family life.
As you can tell, I loved this film. We purchased it upon release and plan to watch it many many many more times. If you have not seen this movie, you need to do so as soon as possible and then thank me profusely for recommending such a great film. If you don't decide to watch it I would tell you to stop being silly and give it a chance. Enjoy!
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