The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: a curiosity piece for Nicolas Cage fans

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is an entertaining film and a curious experiment; up to that point, everything is fine.

The thing is that you will only enjoy it under one fairly clear condition: you have to buy into Nicolas Cage’s game.

If you like the actor, his public image, his excesses, his way of moving between meme, cult actor and faded action star -or star who has become something else-, there is plenty here for you to enjoy. 

If you do not connect with that, the film will probably feel like a pleasant action comedy, but far less interesting than it wants to be. It will also make you check your phone often, believe me.

Even so, it is worth a look because the premise is curious and anything but typical.

Quick opinion on The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The film directed by Tom Gormican works better as a concept than as a story. Not because the story is a disaster, because it is not, but because the real appeal of the film is not that.

What matters here is seeing Nicolas Cage playing a version of Nicolas Cage, surrounded by a plot that uses his own legend as comic fuel. That is the joke and the hook. The meta-joke, really.

For much of its running time, the film moves along lightly. It does not bore you, it does not drag, and it has a healthy energy that is easy to connect with and that the Mediterranean locations help along. 

It is one of those films you watch without making too much of it, with a genuinely funny moment here and there and the feeling that its creator(s) knew exactly what they were doing.

The problem is that, once you strip away the self-parody, what remains underneath is a fairly ordinary action comedy. Not bad, but not especially memorable either. It could be just another Netflix production.

What The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is about

The plot starts from an idea as simple as it is self-aware: Nicolas Cage plays a fictional version of himself, a down-on-his-luck actor who agrees to attend the birthday party of a millionaire played by Pedro Pascal. 

What begins as a strange, almost humiliating and rather absurd gig ends up turning into an action, espionage and farce plot that uses Cage’s own figure as its main engine. 

In reality, the plot is the least important thing in the film.

A film built around the myth of Nicolas Cage

The most interesting thing about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is that it embraces its nature. It does not want to be a “normal” film starring Nicolas Cage. It wants to be a film about what Nicolas Cage means as a cultural figure.

And that has something to it.

Cage has spent years becoming something more than an actor. He is a presence. A tone. A way of understanding excess. He may appear in good films, bad films, very weird films or outright inexplicable ones, but there is almost always something of his that makes you want to watch.

It is probably a matter of charisma. And of the not-giving-a-damn attitude he gives off in all his latest appearances.

Here the film makes use of exactly that. His career, his public image, his gestures, his intensity and that point between self-parody and vindication. It does not exactly laugh at him. It laughs with him. Or rather we laugh with him, which is different.

Besides, Cage seems comfortable inside the experiment. He gets stuck in, accepts the joke and pushes it just enough for the whole thing to make sense.

That said, the film depends so much on that complicity that it can leave out anyone who has no prior interest in the actor. If Nicolas Cage means nothing to you, the proposal loses a huge part of its strength. Or all of it.

Pedro Pascal adds to it, but the film still belongs to Cage

Pedro Pascal helps quite a lot to keep the film from becoming only a narcissistic Cage exercise.

His character works as a counterpoint, as a fan inside the film itself and as a kind of distorted mirror that lets Cage play with himself even more. The chemistry between the two is one of the main reasons why the film is pleasant to watch.

Pascal has charisma, knows how to modulate enthusiasm well and brings a warmer energy. He does not compete with Cage, he accompanies him. And that matters, because if the film had tried to turn them into two equal forces, it might have lost focus.

Cage remains the centre here. Pascal improves the whole, makes it more human and gives it some breathing room, but he does not change the nature of the proposal.

And well, Paco León in a very funny role, far from what we are used to seeing from him, also adds his touch.

The best of the film

The best thing is that it knows what its main asset is and is not ashamed to exploit it. Quite the opposite.

Nicolas Cage laughing at himself could have been too thin an idea, but here it has a certain charm. 

Look, this is not some very deep reflection on fame, identity or the wear and tear of a career in Hollywood. The film aims at something simpler: taking everything the viewer thinks they know about Cage and turning it into fuel for a light comedy.

The tone also works well. It does not take itself too seriously, but it does not fall into easy jokes all the time either. It has absurd moments, nods for fans and a structure agile enough not to feel like it is stretching a meme for two hours.

And, as I said, the Cage-Pascal pairing holds the whole thing together. When they are together, the film gets better.

It is also worth noting again that the photography and settings help that summery feel-good vibe.

The worst of the film

The worst thing is probably that the plot matters less than it should.

I am not going into details to avoid spoiling anything, but the action and farce side does its job without much shine. It is there to give movie shape to what is, deep down, an excuse to play with Nicolas Cage.

The result is curious, but uneven. There are moments when the film seems more concerned with reminding you how peculiar its premise is than with building something truly powerful from it.

Besides, the concept has a clear ceiling. Once you understand the game, the film would need something more to level up, and at least I did not find it.

That is why my rating is merely acceptable.

It does not fail at what it sets out to do, but it is certainly not a rounded film. It is pleasant, has personality and is very easy to watch, but it is not a memorable film beyond its own joke.

What is more, without being bad, you would recommend it to very few people.

Verdict: entertaining, curious and for fans

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not a great film. Not even a good action comedy, and I do not think it has much staying power for anyone who does not get into the joke. But it is a curious enough experiment to justify at least a look.

If you get into its game, you will finish it. If you do not, you will leave it halfway through. And nothing will happen. I am sure whoever was responsible had that clear.

Its greatest virtue is also its limit: it depends enormously on Nicolas Cage. And, to a lesser extent, on Pedro Pascal. If you like these actors, especially Cage, you will probably enjoy it. If not, it is easy to drift out of the plot and lose interest fairly quickly.

Technical sheet

Exact title	The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Year	2022
Runtime	107 min / 1h 47m
Director	Tom Gormican
Main cast	Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Neil Patrick Harris, Paco León, Alessandra Mastronardi
Official genre	Comedy, action / action comedy
Country	United States
Available on	Netflix and others