The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a 2022 action comedy film directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten.

Nicolas Cage begrudgingly accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a billionaire super fan. When things take a wild turn, Nic is forced to become a version of some of his most iconic and beloved characters in order to extricate his wife and daughter from the fan who is a notorious drug lord.

The film stars Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself, along with a supporting cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent made it’s debut in theaters April 22nd, courtesy of Lionsgate.

THE GOOD

When I first read about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, I will be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to think. But when I watched the trailer, I grabbed my calendar immediately and blocked off April 22nd. And I am not a calendar guy at all, so this was a big deal. Literally everything about this movie grabbed my attention, and I honestly didn’t even care if early release feedback was negative. I was ready. Just for a little background, Andrew and I are hardcore Nic Cage fans, devoted followers you might say, just not in a cultish way. And listen we have heard it all, you are either #teamnicolascage, or you think he is a wannabe actor who has been riding his uncles coattails since his first feature-film role in the 1982 cult classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was the last time he was officially credited as his birthname, which was Nicholas Kim Coppola. Apparently his stage name of Nicolas Cage was taken from the Marvel comic book character, Luke Cage.

Just to offer up a bit of background on the man, the myth, the legend, Cage, born January 7th, 1964, in Long Beach California, is the nephew of famed director/writer/producer Francis Ford Coppola (his father’s brother), who has been in the business since the late 50’s. He’s just the guy who directed and co-wrote The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and The Godfather: Part III (1990), no big deal. Easily one of the most influential names in the history of cinema. But, it’s not Cage’s fault he is his uncle, and he surely ended up paving his own way. I could talk about the history of the man all day long, but you are here to find out if The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is worth your time or not, so keep reading to find out!

I absolutely loved this movie, big surprise right? But it is for reasons that stretch well beyond my appreciation for one Nicolas Cage. The film is genuinely funny and well-intentioned, the acting was sublime (obviously), the screenplay was creative, engaging, and more than anything else relevant, and the technical aspects of the film were top notch. Now sure we are talking about a movie where Nic Cage plays a fictional version of Nic Cage, but that is just part of the genius behind the film. And if you are still questioning his abilities as an actor, assuming you haven’t seen The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), or Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), just check out his recent under-the-radar and painfully underrated indie gem Pig, which Andrew reviewed back in August (read the full review here), now streaming on Hulu. He absolutely crushed it in that movie.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is just vintage Nic Cage, an actor that always makes his presence felt in any project he is involved with. Sure he’s had his fair share of duds, but with almost 110 acting credits on his resume, four of which are currently in post-production, that is par for the course, and they have all contributed to the man he is today. if you don’t think he is one of the hardest working actors in the business, you just aren’t paying attention. In the film he is a struggling actor who even though he has had a long and successful career, he is still having a hard time making ends meet. He is also more disconnected from his daughter than he ever was, and as he points out during the film, it is impossible as a parent to be close to a 16-year-old. Just so much of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent hit home for me, and the film just felt like such a rewarding experience.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent paints Cage as an actor that is obsessed with film, and is always talking about how you can’t conceivably pick your all-time favorite film from 100+ years of quality filmmaking. He points out that what might be your favorite in the moment could depend on your mood which would of course influence the genre you might prefer, which rang true to me considering my wife always tells me she needs to be in the “right headspace” to watch an intense crime thriller like the True Detective series on HBO, whatever the heck that even means. Anyway, he is portrayed as a film fanatic who loves what he does, too much in many ways, and it all feels so authentic considering his roots. I mean, this guy grew up around film and still wanted to make it his life’s work, now that is saying something. His character is just delightfully naïve and well-intentioned, and very likable.

Throughout The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, we are treated to several clips of Nic Cage classics, including the films opening with a glimpse of the 1997 classic Con-Air, and I thought this was such a nice touch. For the film to work, we needed to envision Cage as a larger-than-life figure, which he already was of course, but plenty of background and relevant reasons are provided to help convince the naysayers. For my money, Javi, the alleged drug kingpin played by Pedro Pascal, was the perfect character. He played a Nicolas Cage “superfan”, and to say he was well-versed on the man’s career would be an understatement. He had a shrine documenting all of his classics, a few of which that were more of Easter eggs for true Cage fans, and this got me real fired up. Love him or hate him, Nicolas Cage has acted in a ton of movies in the last nearly 40-years. If you don’t consider that impressive, you may need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Naturally, we have to touch on the acting in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. I will do my best to not focus too much on the performance of the great Nicolas Cage playing the great Nicolas Cage, but he really was that good. Cage grabs the wheel and drives this film from the outset which was more than okay with me. I just loved this fictionalized version of him, and I could personally watch him go about his business all day long. Starring alongside Cage is Pedro Pascal as Javi, and he was nothing short of amazing. The chemistry between these two actors was just perfect, making the film feel like one of the more genuine buddy comedies in recent memory. Pascal isn’t necessarily a big name to your average film fan although he has played roles in some big films and shows including Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Game of Thrones, and The Mandalorian, but I can’t picture anyone playing this role as well as he did. He just has such a presence on-screen that matched Cage perfectly, and the two were so much fun to watch.

The supporting cast was flawless as well, from Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz as the CIA agents, to the always fantastic Sharon Horgan as Cage’s wife, and Lily Mo Sheen as Cage’s daughter. The London native is the daughter of Martin Sheen and Kate Beckinsale, and by the end of the film I genuinely believed she was in fact Nic Cage’s daughter. I really enjoyed how her relationship with Cage developed throughout the film. I am a HUGE Neil Patrick Harris fan, and I enjoyed his limited screen time as Cage’s agent. I enjoyed Paco León as Javi’s sociopath of a brother, and felt like he really owned his role. I can’t think of anything negative to say about the entire cast.

THE BAD

Alright, so this section is going to prove difficult for me. First of all, I am a Nicolas Cage guy. Many of you may not be, and I suppose that is okay. Needless to say if you have an issue with Nicolas Cage you may very well have an issue with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But, with that being said, it may actually turn out to be the exact opposite. Let me take a few minutes to explain. First and foremost, Nic Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself very much rooted in a reality that seems true to what you would expect a struggling yet well-known and successful actor to be going through.

He comes across as genuine and grounded, even if he may annoy the crap out of his 16-year-old daughter due to his obsession with old cinema. The film itself just works as it manages to take a simple yet intriguing concept and craft an experience for viewers of all ages. I realize I am straying off track a bit, but unless you just don’t enjoy action comedies, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent checks all of the right boxes. I suppose they could have given Neil Patrick Harris a bigger role, but that feels nitpicky.

THE VERDICT

An immersive and hilarious trip down the Nicolas Cage rabbit hole, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a fresh take on the action comedy genre that provides relentless entertainment value while also serving as a love letter to fans of film. Bottom line, I thought this movie was fantastic. I went in expecting something at least moderately along the lines of a slapstick type comedy, but it was so much more than that. The film is extremely self aware, the entire cast is fully invested, and somehow everything just works. Plus, the replay value is no joke and I can’t wait to see it again. I will also be adding the Blu-ray to my collection as soon as it becomes available. I was already a big Nic Cage fan as I made very clear throughout the review, but after watching this movie I can’t wait to go back and re-watch all of his classics throughout the years. Do yourself a favor and see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in theaters sooner than later, you’ll be glad you did!

Once you see the film you will likely be intrigued by the numerous name drops of classic Nic Cage and non-Nic Cage films and want to know more, so when that time comes go ahead and check out this very helpful and detailed write-up from Mashable.com by clicking this link.