Chameleonic cinema emerges through the Oscar-winning enigma that is Nicolas Cage in the self-referential The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, ( It reminds a little of Being John Malkovich from 1999 a satirical version of John Malkovich).
Director and co-writer Tom Gormican apparently has found the deal role for Cage (who impressed many last year with his restraint as a truffle hunter in the low-budgeted Pig). It involves embodying versions of himself in his first live-action commercial picture since 2012s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
The angst and frustrations of a strange career that could be on the verge of an upswing allows for the out sized, de-again to unwind with blitheness from the B-movie grunge and big box-office credibility. Cage really gets the boost here more than the viewer through the dramatization that may have subliminal connectionist “Adaptation” and it’s unspooling ingenuity.
In Unbearable the struggles for ‘Nick’ including dealing with his ex (Sharon Horgan) and daughter (Lily Mo See, daughter of Kate Beckinsale) and ready to hand u the acting gig after misfortune after misfire.
Hope may spring from a pitch by his smarmy rep (Neil Patrick Harris) to appear at a superrich Spaniard’s birthday bash to clear financial woes. Chilean/American thespian Pedro Pascal (Wonder Woman 1984) is the avid host and huge fan who’d like to share a script with the hungover, jet tagged guy.
There seems to be a shared interest in adult, character-driven fare, as well as the beloved Paddington 2. Yet, undercover federal agents played by Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz (Vivian and Martin) offer ‘Nick’ an outlet to go into the mode that could return him to former glory in ‘ho-hum’ fashion (when characters like Ethan Hunt and Jack Ryan were flourishing).
Wink-wink cheekiness provides enough actorly bits especially from the Wild At Heart days via Nicky Kim Coppola with a loopy insider levity for the on-line mores. Observant gibes can Gide from the Jerry Bruckheimer oeuvre like The Rock, Con Air or National Treasure to the likes of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Face Off and (underrated by some) Guarding Tess. Though Talent may not really be as imaginative as its peculiar, if unique monkey suggests.
The humor may not be that abundant s certain cute tangents Gove way to the hallucinatory and verdant pursuits in Spain to diminishing returns. If this Talent is rather unbearable and barely massive for those just cursorily into Cage’s personalized mythos, then the Weight is more bearable and is emotionally elevated from his interaction with a rascally, if sensitive Pascal who might blur the lines before the actor of so many films like Raising Arizona, and Peggy Sue Got Married dials it up again.