I was completely sold on the premise of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as soon as I heard it. I wasn’t prepared for how much I would enjoy the movie. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a new movie with this much heart. I found myself smiling and laughing throughout the movie. I’m incredibly happy that this ended up being one of Nic Cage’s better movies.
Unbearable Weight was directed by Tom Gormican. It was written by Gormican and Kevin Etten. This was my introduction to Gormican’s work. Etten had written for several shows that I enjoyed, Scrubs and Reaper. They worked together to write a movie that’s funny, heartfelt, and meta which is an interesting mix. Gormican directed the movie and did a fantastic job with what could have been a ridiculous movie given the premise.
Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, Lily Sheen, and Paco León star. Both Cage and Pascal are highlights of the movie. The chemistry between the two immediately makes you believe that they could be friends. This is the most likable role that I’ve seen Pascal in and what you see on screen from him is similar to what I’ve seen in interviews. Cage is different in this role as he’s playing a fictionalized version of himself. While I’m sure he was allowed to make some changes to the role, but it still felt like an incredibly heighten version of himself. I also want to mention León as he makes you feel uneasy whenever he speaks onscreen. The rest of the cast as well as the cameos make this movie as much as these performances do.
The effects in this movie are amazing. The CG looks good, and the weird de-aging effects used on Nick Cage look good but also incredibly weird. I feel the need to say weird the many times because it looks like it was plucked straight out of one of Cage’s older movies. The use of props from various Nic Cage movies is great. Seeing that many props from so many of his movies lets you know how big of a fan that character is. The music by Mark Isham is amazing. The score fits the movie and elevates it to a new level.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a funny, heartfelt, and meta movie that serves as a love letter to Nic Cage. This might be up there with Pig when it comes to Cage’s newer movies. Seeing this movie in theaters was something that I knew I would want to do and I’m glad that I did. I can’t recommend seeing this movie more than I already have. I give The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 10 tarantula belt buckles out of 10.
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