The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 2022

B

This movie has gotten largely positive reviews and I was able to get a discount ticket (53 cents), so off I went to the theater. There were only two other people in the theater at a Monday matinee (and I think they were late). I knew Nicolas Cage would be in the movie as himself (or a version of himself), but I did not realize he is the main star. The movie has fun making fun of Cage’s less than stellar movie career, though it is nice that this movie as well as last year’s Pig show that he is back (not that he ever went anywhere, as the movie points out). Then he gets involved with a rich superfan in Mallorca, Spain, which eventually involves criminal intrigue. Pedro Pascal is very good as the rich superfan, but others in the supporting cast don’t do as well including his Irish ex-wife (her accent seems fake, but she is actually Irish) and some federal agents. Honestly, the movie tries to pack a little too much in, with the family stuff, an alter ego, writing a movie script, crime lord stuff, and lots of Nic Cage. Probably better to dial it back a little instead of trying to do so many things, not all of it well. So it is mostly goofy, though with some decent, mostly mindless action, and some funny Hollywood stuff. It suffers by being about a bad actor making bad movies and sort of in a meta way saying this movie is one of those bad movies, but do you really want to see a bad movie, even if it knows it is bad? Still, I enjoyed it despite so many flaws. This movie will be very at home as an in-flight movie very soon.

Written: 25 Apr 2022