The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is certainly one of the good cinematographic surprises of this year with an actor who does not lack humor and does not hesitate to push his caricature of a fallen world star to the limit. Indeed, it was necessary to dare to propose a film in which Nicolas Cage plays his own role and shows that after a period of excellent blockbusters, his Hollywood aura seems to have abandoned him to the point that he aligns a succession of numerous B-movies more or less successful but always with the same pleasure to play new characters and less smooth than those who made his world fame whether it is Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The rock (1996), Con Air (1997), Face/Off (1997), City of Angels (1998), National Treasure (2004), Lord of War (2005), Kick Ass (2010) and other Hollywood productions. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not only a thinly disguised caricature of the Hollywood world, but also a tribute to an actor who never ceases to amaze and astonish us. 

Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten's script is largely inspired by Nicolas Cage's current situation and his numerous cinematographic setbacks.  Lacking artistic creativity and facing his own financial ruin (he has many unpaid bills on his back), his fictional version must accept here after missing the role that could have put him back in the saddle an offer of a million dollars to attend the birthday party of Javi Gutierrez a potentially dangerous drug dealer (Pedro Pascal). Yet appearances are often deceiving and things take an unexpected turn when Nicolas Cage is forcibly recruited by CIA operative Vivian (Tiffany Haddish) and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen personas in order to save his loved ones and the daughter of a prominent politician.  

Certainly The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent proves to be an action comedy worthy of the heyday of the 90's when Hollywood productions were not content to offer films with special effects so spectacular that studios did not bother to base their films on original and masterful scripts as it is too often the case today. Nicolas Cage certainly finds a tailor-made role by interpreting an excessive and unvarnished version of himself, but he manages to bring out of his fictional character all the troubles of actors so invested in their roles that they cut themselves off from reality and live in a chimera. The numerous quotations from Nicolas Cage's outstanding films occupy an important place not only through the use of numerous excerpts but also through quotes and collectibles collected by the character Javi Gutierrez.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent manages to mix action, espionage and satirical comedy with such infectious gusto that we follow the trials and tribulations of this fictional Nicolas Cage who seems to continue to put his career first to the point of having divorced his wife and not knowing how to reconnect with his only daughter Addy Cage (Lily Sheen). His relationship with Javi Gutierrez, a fan willing to pay him a million dollars to attend his birthday party, is at the center of this film and makes it a successful and endearing buddy movie. Certainly the film is not intended to show the many mistakes of this actor who went from Hollywood sets to simple films often lacking budget and released mostly in live video. In the same way, the film particularly addresses the fact that some Hollywood stars have difficulty keeping their feet on the ground and a decent career and are often forced to accept food films. 

It was also necessary to dare to propose in this film scenes in which the fictitious Nicolas Cage discusses with his version of the past resembling that of the film Wild at Heart (1990). This element could have weakened this film, but it allows Nicolas Cage to give a greater psychological thickness to his character of fallen star. The director and co-writer Tom Gormican is certainly a big fan of Nicolas Cage and takes as much care of the image of his film as the writing of it, allowing this chameleon actor to find once again a perfect character to bring out on screen the true talent of this Hollywood star always in search of finding his aura of the past. This same care brought to this film bursts on the screen with a perfectly measured music of the composer Mark Isham who delivers there certainly a score sticking perfectly to the action and reinforcing our attraction for this film that we can only recommend you...

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Directed by Tom Gormican
Written by Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten
Produced by Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, Kevin Turen
Starring Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish
Cinematography : Nigel Bluck
Edited by Melissa Bretherton
Music by Mark Isham
Production companies : Saturn Films, Burr! Productions
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release dates : March 12, 2022 (SXSW), April 20,2022 (France), April 22, 2022 (United States)
Running time : 93 minutes

Seen on April 20, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 4 seat A21

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