starring: nicholas cage, pedro pascal, tiffany haddish, and lily mo sheen

REVIEWER: lyall carter

A cash-strapped Nicolas Cage agrees to make a paid appearance at a billionaire super fan's birthday party, but is really an informant for the CIA since the billionaire fan is a drug kingpin and gets cast in a Tarantino movie.

I’m a Nick Cage fan. From The Rock (my favorite all out action film of all time) to National Treasure and his revelatory performance in last year's brilliant indie hit Pig, Nicholas Cage oozes crazy, brilliant charisma like no one else. After a few years of B grade movies, Cage is back to his best with the aforementioned Pig and now with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. A brilliant and bonkers metanarrative ride, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not only the funniest film of 2022 so far but one of its very best. Nick Cage is baaaaaaaaack! 

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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 channelling his most iconic and beloved characters to save himself and his loved ones.

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It takes a pretty grounded actor to star in a film that’s basically a nearly two hour roast of him and his career. But it’s never nasty and plays into the myth and fandom of Nick Cage to joyful delight. The filmmakers pull from every part of Cages’ long and diverse filmography, with neat little Easter eggs dotted throughout. 

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While The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is pretty meta, it never enters territory where it feels like it's overly arty or inaccessible. As well as being down right entertaining with a rocking soundtrack, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is side splitting hilarious. From Nick’s drunken serenade of his daughter and her birthday party to his attempt at spy craft that goes horribly wrong, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will have you repeating lines for days afterwards. Nick and Javi are also completely right about Paddington 2. 

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Nicholas Cage continues his renaissance from performances in Mandy, Pig and now here. He beautifully treads the line of doing what’s expected, the zany, crazy Nick Cage, while never stumbling into a caricature of himself in an emotionally mature performance. One of his very best.  

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A brilliant and bonkers metanarrative ride, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not only the funniest film of 2022 so far but one of its very best. Nick Cage is baaaaaaaaack!