Movie Review--The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

"I'm quitting acting.  So, you can call the trades, and tell them I said it was a tremendous... honor... to be a small part... of one of the oldest of human traditions, storytelling and mythmaking."

--Nicolas Cage, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The appreciation of humor is a vibrant, deep part of human life, one that is ripe for artistic exploration.  If only humor is not used in a way that results in a conflicting tone, an atmosphere where either drama or comedy do not smother each other, then it can be well situated in various genres.  On its own, comedy still has immense potential, for humor is something that entertains and can still hold up grand truths about human nature and broader reality.  Intentionally or not, Nicolas Cage has established himself as a very comedic actor despite having lots of dramatic talent.  The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent craftily exploits the habits and screen reputation of Nicolas Cage to satirically have him play himself.  In the midst of this, the movie honors the way that humor can lay bare personal triumphs and flaws alike.

Production Values

Nicolas Cage, very predictably, is perfect as himself.  Especially given his strange style and history of acting, he is right at home in what is one of the best roles of his career,at the least in recent times.  The famous "Nicolas Cage freakout/melodrama" scene that shows up in the likes of National Treasure 2 makes an appearance here, with this entire movie being a grand stage for its main character to pay homage to his own career.  With Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian), Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, and Ike Barinholtz as supporting cast members, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is driven by its characters, acting, and unusual storyline.  It only helps that there are plenty of times where the dialogue has layers of narrative significance, acting as both a source of clever comedy and an in-universe catalyst for character choices.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

Nicolas Cage deliberates over a major acting role that is given to someone else.  Planning on leaving the acting profession after an appearance at a birthday party, the man who invited him having a screenplay written specifically for Nicolas Cage to star in.  Since Nicolas Cage shares that he has retired, his host Javi is devastated.  He still convinces Cage to pretend like he is still an actor before asking him about his favorite film.  Agents of the American government apprehend Cage, telling him that Javi is an international arms dealer.  A recent kidnapping orchestrated by Javi brings the government to seek Cage's help in acting as an insider.

Intellectual Content

Aside from the more meta jokes like Nicolas Cage telling himself to be more "strategic" with the roles he picks, Javi showing Nicolas Cage Paddington 2 and both of them tearing up at how "incredible" it is, or Javi and Cage describing a movie they want to make together that is similar to the film itself, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent celebrates the genuine power of comedy and general entertainment to improve people's lives.  When Javi tries to convince Cage to return to acting, he says that "to turn your back on that gift is to turn your back on the entire human race."  The very exaggerated statement is a comedic way to overstate an actual truth: that movies can brighten lives even if some take them for granted.  The Bible itself acknowledges the healing potential of humor, and movies like this exemplify it, even when some of its humor involves fallacies like belittling Marvel movies by name as a whole, contrasting them with intelligent movies, as if The Incredible Hulk, Eternals, The Winter Soldier, and select other MCU films are not masterful on at least some levels.

Conclusion

Weaving in scenes from and references to other Nicolas Cage movies, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the Nicolas Cage films that transcends other Nicolas Cage films.  The central star has been in some great films that capitalize on his persona in different ways, like Into the Spider-Verse and National Treasure.  As a meta comedy that examines celebrity life, this is a glorious success of a movie that accomplishes many things at once with its mixture of character study, brilliant humor, meta storytelling, and great performances.  It stands alongside comedy films of the last five years like Deadpool 2 and The Hunt at the higher end of the spectrum.  Humor can suffocate drama out of stories meant to rely on it, but that is not the case here!

Content:

 1.  Violence:  On occasion, characters physically attack or shoot at each other.

 2.  Profanity:  "Fuck," "shit," and "damn" are used.