Film Review – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
CIA agents Vivian (Tiffany Hadish) and Martin (Ike Barinholtz) have a very important mission that cannot go wrong under any circumstances. Their mission is to bring to justice a mega rich criminal kingpin and they have decided to use a civilian in order to infiltrate his expensive mansion – unfortunately, that civilian is Hollywood actor, Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage).
As an actor known for his wide range and ability to transform into any character, Vivian sees this as an opportunity rather than an extremely risky idea and quickly recruits Nick to the cause. However, Nick Cage has been given money to see a very wealthy man named Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) who is also a Nick Cage superfan and wants to spend the weekend with him. So, between doing his job for the safety of America and keeping a rich film nerd very happy, Nick Cage has to give the performance of his life.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a self-referential, tongue in cheek comedy about iconic actor Nicolas Cage. With his varying career, Nicolas Cage went from Oscar winner to action star in a blink of an eye. Not to mention that it seemed with every film that he did, the quality was not befitting of an actor such as himself.
However, Nicolas Cage has still maintained a fanbase over his career which has spanned to just over forty years. Also, despite the quality of the films in which he stars, there’s still a certain fascination with watching him act.
Knowing this reputation, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent embraces the reckless abandon of Cage’s varied career and delivers a comedy that’s for fans of his career as much as it is for those who think he lost his magic touch. The thing is, Nicolas Cage has never lost it and this lovingly knowing tribute to his career shows him at his best, even when he’s pushing his performance to realms of parody.
Cage and Pascal work very well together with a great chemistry and there are lots of references and jokes about Nicolas Cage’s career which die hard fans will love and even those with a passing knowledge will appreciate. However, the story is the key and if it weren’t for the weirdly heart-warming story of Cage reclaiming his status as an actor and saving his fictional family, then it could have been just a series of sketches making fun of well loved, if not always respected, actor.
However, for those fans who are expecting to see a little bit of everything from Cage’s career, they may be disappointed as the script chooses only to pick up on certain films that audiences may know, Similarly, Nick Cage’s performance also could have made more references to his movies in his dialogue which may leave fans a bit disappointed for the ones that were left out. All in all, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the film we never knew we wanted, but it’s the Nicolas Cage film we always needed.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is on digital 8 July & Steelbook, 4K UHD, Blu-ray & DVD 11 July
Action, Comedy | USA, 2022 | 15 | Blu-ray, DVD, Digital | 11th July 2022 (UK) | Dir. Tom Gormican | Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Lily Mo Sheen, Paco Leon, Neil Patrick Harris
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