The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

At the end of April, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was released in theaters. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stars Nicholas Cage as Nick Cage as he goes through a bad slump as an actor. To get some extra money, Nick agrees to appear at a mysterious billionaire, Javi's (Pedro Pascal) birthday party. The two soon develop a deep friendship and begin to write a movie together. However, Nick Cage is soon recruited by the CIA to learn whether Javi is actually hiding something more sinister.

This movie was a very pleasant surprise. It has a very solid story as well as some great characters and just does something different than the normal Hollywood film. Nicholas Cage playing himself is really fun as he gets to go all-in with his personality as he is essentially playing an exaggerated version of himself. Pedro Pascal is also very good in this movie, supplying some fun comedic moments as well as providing more heart to the story. The relationship between Nick Cage and Javi is also really well done. The audience really feels the bromance between as well as the conflict within Nick Cage of not wanting to betray Javi to the CIA. This movie is also super funny. It has a lot of self-aware humor, poking fun at Hollywood blockbusters and the writing process while also still making fun of Nicholas Cage himself. Particularly, the LSD chase sequence is really funny. Finally, the movie also makes a lot of references to the rest of Nick Cage's filmography and just adds an extra level to the film.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues that keep the film from being top-tier. One issue is that the CIA characters seem underutilized. They recruit Nicholas Cage to investigate Javi and then are pretty much forgotten about and don't do much in the rest of the film aside from the occasional checking of Nicholas Cage. The other issue is that the third act felt a bit rushed. I didn't mind the direction they went with it but just felt it got there too fast. I understand that the movie is shadowing the screenplay Nick and Javi were writing but I felt it could've gotten to the third act a bit more gradually and did a bit more with it. The movie runs about an hour and 45 minutes, had it been about 20-30 minutes longer, I think it would've been much better.

Overall, this film is very well done, showcasing Nicholas Cage at his most Nicholas Cage. However, the rushed third act kept it from being a great film.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+ Recommendation: Go See it

R Rating Disclaimer: The movie is rated R for Language, so if you don't like a lot of F-bombs, then you probably won't want to watch this.