The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – Film Review

Unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, actor Nick Cage accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan’s birthday party. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission. Taking on the role of a lifetime, he soon finds himself channeling his most iconic and beloved characters to save himself and his loved ones.

Where does one even begin when it comes to describing the force of nature that is Nicolas Cage? If I’m being completely honest with you, I think that Cage is one of the most fascinating people on the planet. Seriously. There’s just something so endearing, funny, mysterious, strange, and awesome about him that I never in a million years thought I’d be able to fully comprehend. But after watching Tom Gormican‘s brand new action-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, I can say that I understand him better, and my appreciation for him has grown even more.

One thing I loved about this movie is that it doesn’t say that Cage is the greatest actor in the world, but instead, it shows us people in the story that genuinely worship him and look up to him. In real life, any famous actor has their fans and in this film, it’s Pedro Pascal‘s Javi, who just so happens to be the world’s number one Cage fan. In one hilarious scene, we are shown the inside of his Cage collection room which is absolutely chalked full of the actor’s various memorabilia including props, outfits, and much more.

It’s a scene that’s made even more hilarious when you see Cage’s reaction. The chemistry between Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal is nothing short of phenomenal. It may even be the best chemistry I’ve seen so far this far. The only competition it really has is Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz in Matt Reeves‘ The Batman. Either way, these two work like absolute magic together, culminating in some of the most outrageously funny scenes of the year.

There’s also plenty of action to go around to keep us all entertained. It’s all shot with lots of wides, meaning that there is, thankfully, no shaky cam to be found here. What a relief. Gratefully, these huge action set pieces aren’t shown every other minute – they are carefully spaced out so we can still enjoy watching a well-written story, and one that’s amazingly self-aware and fourth-wall-breaking in all the right ways.

But aside from all the spectacle, the movie actually has quite a massive beating heart at its core which certainly took me by surprise. Who would have thought that seeing Cage and Pascal watching Paddington 2 could be so emotionally moving? I, for one, did not but alas, here we are.

The film can suffer from some poor pacing at times and a second act that does take a little bit to get interesting again, but at the end of the day, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a superbly witty, action-packed non-stop laugh riot with amazing performances from Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal.