The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

[Small Man Big Horse]

Meta comedy where Nicholas Cage plays himself, and supposedly he's thinking of giving up acting after he misses out on a role when he's offered a million dollars to attend the birthday party of one of his biggest fans. About half way through it turns in to an action comedy, while Cage occasionally imagines having conversations with a far younger cgi version of himself, but it's only quite funny, there's some nice ideas on occasion and pace wise it's fine, but I can't help but wish it'd gone to weirder or funnier places than it did. 7.2/10

[Icehaven]

That's disappointing, I've seen ads for this and thought it looked like it could be great. Still going to give it a go but I'll keep my expectations in check.

[Thomas]

I liked the premise, but after seeing the trailer I did worry that it might be less offbeat and weird than it could be. Nic entered the metaverse in Adaptation - I was hoping it would veer off along those lines, but it looks closer to Episodes (not a criticism of Episodes, which I haven't seen much of).

Like Icehaven, I'll probably still see it, if only to contribute to Cage's next dinosaur skull.

[Small Man Big Horse]

It's possible my expectations were too high after seeing some very positive reviews, and I hadn't seen a trailer so had no idea what it was going to be about other than that Cage was playing a version of himself, so there's a very good chance that others will enjoy it more than I did. And I did really like it too, I just didn't love it like I hoped I would.

[Joe Qunt]

7.2/10

What on earth does this mean?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

72%

[JamesTC]

Episodes isn't a bad shout. Nic Cage playing a similar parody as Matt le Blanc. Young Cage felt like Sick of It.

It is a fun film. Probably a little short on laugh out loud moments for a comedy and it weirdly goes a bit Jonny English in the middle. It is just all a bit by the numbers.

[non capisco]

Saw this last night and, yeah, it's OK. One belly laugh (the hoary old

Spoiler alert

they could have just walked round the wall

[close]

gag that you'll see coming but is nonetheless really well executed by Cage and Pedro Pascal, whose chemistry together saves the film, really) and a load of 'alright for a Sunday night' fluff. The cinema audience I saw it with really weren't digging it, though. Played out to virtual silence until the scene where they

Spoiler alert

get on the LSD

[close]

which is a looooong way into the film for no-one to be laughing.

I did like how

Spoiler alert

young manic Cave hallucination

[close]

is the one from the infamous Wogan chat show appearance, leather jacket, Wild at Heart promotional T-shirt and all.

[Small Man Big Horse]

What on earth does this mean?

72%

I can understand the confusion / annoyance, I'm aware the system doesn't make much sense a lot of the time (especially compared to how I've rated other films in the past), but it's just what feels right to me when I've finished watching something.

[Joe Qunt]

Well SMBH, you are an odd fellow, but I must say you steam a good ham.

[Small Man Big Horse]

You're not the first to say that, but thank you all the same.

I did like how

Spoiler alert

young manic Cave hallucination

[close]

is the one from the infamous Wogan chat show appearance, leather jacket, Wild at Heart promotional T-shirt and all.

I don't remember ever seeing that interview until today, but wow, it really is something quite unique.

[the science eel]

Just out and enjoyed it until the ending and then the real ending, both of which were fucking bollocks.

That one sight gag (previously mentioned) was fabulous.

[non capisco]

You're not the first to say that, but thank you all the same.

I don't remember ever seeing that interview until today, but wow, it really is something quite unique.

I meant to type 'young manic Cage', not 'young manic Cave'. A film where Nicolas Cage hallucinates the young Nick Cave would truly be some awful try-hard shite, wouldn't it?

[mjwilson]

I liked the premise, but after seeing the trailer I did worry that it might be less offbeat and weird than it could be. Nic entered the metaverse in Adaptation - I was hoping it would veer off along those lines, but it looks closer to Episodes (not a criticism of Episodes, which I haven't seen much of).

I enjoyed this a lot - there are some faint echoes of Adaptation but they're not really doing the same thing.

[13 schoolyards]

It felt like the best possible direct-to-streaming Cage movie, rather than something that really stood up in a "trip to the cinema" way. I enjoyed it a lot but it felt more like it was designed to remind audiences why they liked Cage in his mainstream efforts than a film that really dug down into the way he's been giving crazy performances for thirty years

[Sebastian Cobb]

^ Caught a trailer in the cinema the other day and it did look fun. But yeah, dunno if I'd bother going to the pictures for it.

Also caught a trailer for a re-run of The Sound of Metal which does look like a cinema job, what with the drums and sounds and that.

[phantom_power]

I didn't have very high expectations for this but ended up enjoying it. It was pretty funny, and surprisingly emotional at times. It had a similar "film ends up like the criticism of cinema talked about earlier in the film" vibe as Adaptation, though not as clever as that. Young Nic Cage was surprising but fun, as was Sharon Horgan.

[Blumf]

Watched it last night. It's not bad, but I really struggled to see a point to it. Not really funny enough to be a comedy. Not really deep enough for a drama. Not really exiting enough for an action film.

It's worth a punt for Cage and Pascal, who work nicely together. Maybe if they had forgone all the pretence and just had a light comedy based on two average men forming an awkward but loving friendship, it might have been a better film.

Although not a direct match, I think I preferred Tropic Thunder (2008), which at least gives us the comedy and action.

I'll be generous and give it a 7/10.

[bgmnts]

I enjoyed it very much and think a 7/10 is about right.