Movie Review: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Nicolas Cage has had an incredible filmography since his acting debut. His catalogue of films has ranged notably from some serious stinkers to some absolute bangers. One thing has remained consistent throughout his career up to this point and that is Cage himself. No matter the quality of the film, you can be very sure you're going to get Nicolas Cage putting in 110%. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is an interesting film, as it serves as a self-reflection of Cage as an actor and the legacy his career has established all through the lens of a compelling action/comedy narrative.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, Massive Talent follows a fictional version of Nicolas Cage who is struggling to find a way to maintain his relevance in the modern film world all the while trying to maintain a relationship with his teenage daughter. After a failed attempt to land a role in an upcoming film, Cage ends up taking up an opportunity to visit a rich playboy in Majorca by the name of Javi Gutierrez. While Javi makes his adoration of the movie star and his movies clear quite quickly, Cage soon learns there is a much more serious secret to Javi when the CIA rope Cage into helping them crack down on his secret criminal empire.

The narrative aspect of the film is incredibly smart both as a dissection of Cage's film legacy while also being a compelling action comedy. The heart of it is easily Cage himself, he plays himself in quite a comedic and endearing fashion. There's surprisingly a lot of layers to his performance which is all the more impressive when you consider he's playing a fictional version of himself. His performance is projected even further by his chemistry with Pedro Pascal's character; Javi. Javi is a great extension of Cage's fanbase in a way that reinforces what he means to his audience. The way he idolises Cage is played off to extreme measures for comedic purposes, but you see there's actually a lot of passion and intelligence behind Javi's perception and understanding of the film industry.  The film wouldn't work if not for the way these two characters work with one another, they bring so much positive comedy to the experience that you feel happy to keep watching it develop to the end.

I think with how strong Cage and Pascal's chemistry was, it makes some of the films weaker elements feel all the more noticeable when they're not the focus. For example, the CIA subplot and its extended characters feel notably undercooked and they don't add much to the overall product in my opinion. Same goes for Javi's cousin and the storyline that extends from him. The film works when it's simply trying to process who Nicolas Cage is as a person and the relationship he shares with his family and Javi. The weaker elements don't ruin the film for me however, because I geniinly enjoyed my time watching Cage and Pascal's onscreen relationship develop. 

Nicolas Cage is an incredibly unique person in the film world and what I like about this movie is it puts him on a pedestal and uses it to reflect on who he is as a person and what he and his films mean to his fans. It's way more clever than it has any right to be and it's held afloat confidently by Cage and Pascals exceptional performances.