Movie Review: The Unbearable Burden of Mass Talent

Hook “actor-playing himself” is not the first time that attracts our attention. First of all, “The Genesis of John Malkovich” reveled in his self-referential ailment, when Malkovich played himself on the big screen and caused a lot of praise. This
was with dark humor, devilishly clever and always had something to say. Here, like its ridiculous title, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” is absurdly stupid and has much less to say. But in entertaining form it says nothing.

Nicholas Cage plays a fictional version of himself called Nick Cage. Dismissed for the acting role he dreamed of, and seemingly at the end of his acting career, Cage, still clinging to fame, takes a lucrative job to attend a billionaire’s birthday party in Spain. His fee alone has paid off some bad debts, but he doesn’t realize that the host of the party Xavi (Pedro Pascal) is on the CIA wanted list. Relying on his self-proclaimed shamanic acting technique Nouveau, Cage reluctantly becomes their man from within. Chaos ensues.

Cage, Man, Myth, Legend, spanned the spectrum of cinema from the sublimely brilliant Adaptation to the woefully bad City of Angels, and TUWOMT happily runs through its back catalog to the comedic effect. The film also shows that Xavi is a fan of Cage, who, if not over Cage, is also a willing screenwriter and wants Cage to read his screenplay.

Fresh Pascal (The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman 1984) is a surprise here. His significant comic chops repel Cage’s stupidity, and together they passionately walk the ropes of friends and enemies. It is at those moments when this film works best, and although their awkward romance is marked by the obligatory explosions, car chases and noisy rotation of the plot cogs, TUWOMT still provides many fun moments and a pleasant ending.

As an action adventure movie, it’s pretty good. As a remedy for Cage’s trembling antics with wild eyes – it’s friggiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnWWOA! awesome.

Cast: Nicholas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Hadish.
Director: Tom Gormican
Duration of work: 107 min
Rating: R13 (Violence, abusive language, drug use and mentions of sexual nature.)
Verdict: Funny moments in the meta-poem Cage.