The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

(On Cable TV, October 2022) As actors age into senior-citizen status, some retire, some settle for steady character work, and a few are lucky enough to become respected elder role models of their profession. Then there’s the strange case of Nicolas Cage (age 58), whose filmography encompasses everything from teenage heartthrob roles to serious Oscar-winning performances to huge popcorn commercial hits to a slew of mercenary straight-to-DVD roles to (now) an eclectic selection of unconventional parts in independent films. Cage has become more than an actor—he’s a meme, a folk figure, a remarkable eccentric and even an inspiration for actors trying to go beyond mere realism thanks to his nouveau shamanic style. Now we have Cage leaning into his grander-than-life reputation in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a film in which he plays an idolized actor also named Nicolas Cage. Movie-Cage’s movies are the same as real-Cage, but movie-Cage is not real-Cage as anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the actor’s life will quickly understand. Much of the narrative revolves around Cage getting a lucrative gig to show up at a mega-fan’s birthday party and hang out for a few days in a sumptuous Mediterranean villa. Amazingly enough, the superfan is played by none other than notorious scene-stealer Pedro Pascal, meaning that we get a lot of fun out of seeing those two exuberant actors playing off each other. Tiffany Haddish is surprisingly tolerable (and looks great!) as a CIA agent in a somewhat more serious register than usual. Cage completists will have fun spotting all the mentions and homages to past hits in Cage’s filmography. As self-aware meta-movies go, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a treat, going all the way to hailing the greatness of Paddington 2. It’s perhaps not quite as absurd nor as outrageous as it could have been (in the end, it feels a bit like Adaptation.) but it’s a smooth watch largely due to its depiction of the growing friendship between the two male protagonists. It’s cool that Cage can now look at his filmography and see a title that celebrates him—but I suspect that we still have quite a few great performances of his in store.