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movie review for the unbearable weight of massive talent

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It’s 1997. I’m eleven years old at a sleepover where I tell all the girls my favorite actor is Nicolas Cage and I can’t wait to see “ Con Air .” My three favorite movies are “ Moonstruck ,” “ Raising Arizona ,” and “ Honeymoon in Vegas .” A year earlier, my parents took me to see “ The Rock ” and “ Face/Off ” in theaters despite their R ratings. To be a Nicolas Cage fan of a certain age is to have extremely personal memories like this that crossover into your own autobiographical story.

That’s precisely what “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” director Tom Gormican and his co-writer Kevin Etten understand about the connections fans have with Cage. From this emotional symbiosis between fan and actor, the filmmakers craft a metanarrative that also explores the relationship between the actor and his on screen persona through the lens of the ever shifting goals of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking.

When the film began with a scene featuring a teenage girl referring to Cage as a “fucking legend” while watching the 1997 action film “Con Air” that culminates in her kidnapping as Trisha Yearwood’s “How Do I Live” crescendos, I knew I was in good hands. Cut to Cage playing a fictionalized version of himself called Nick Cage cruising down Sunset Blvd blaring CCR on his way to a meeting with a director (played by “ Joe ” director David Gordon Green ) at the Chateau Marmont.

Neurotic Cage collides head on with Hollywood clichés as he grasps for the “role of a lifetime” while his personal life is in shambles. Divorced from his make-up artist wife Olivia (the always stellar Sharon Horgan ), failing to connect with his 16-year-old daughter Addy (Lily Sheen, daughter of actors Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale ), and owing $600k to the hotel where he’s currently living, Cage takes up an offer from his agent Fink ( Neil Patrick Harris ) to appear at super fan’s birthday in Mallorca for a cool million.

The affable Pedro Pascal plays up his own ultra-likeable persona as billionaire super fan Javi Gutierrez, olive-exporting magnate who may also be an international gun runner. Pascal is all of us as his grin never seems to fade around Cage, he’s just that happy to be around the man behind the myth. What could easily be a fan service cipher in lesser hands is buoyed by Pascal’s layered, emotional performance. A scene where Pascal shares a personal story about how bonding over the 1994’s Shirley MacLaine comedy “ Guarding Tess ” helped him patch things up with his dying father is hilarious, but also taps into a great truth about the power of film—any film—to transform lives.

Even the CIA agents tasked with taking down Javi’s criminal empire, played with perfectly balanced comic seriousness by Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz , have differing points of reference when they spot Cage at the airport and decide to turn him into an asset. The breadth of titles in Cage’s filmography means he’s both the guy from “Moonstruck” and “Face/Off,” but also gives Haddish’s agent an opportunity to distract him long enough to place a tracker on him while explaining how much her nephew loves "The Croods 2." Truly an actor with something for everyone.

Sticking Cage in a plotline straight out of one his action films like “ Gone In 60 Seconds ” or “ National Treasure ” could easily begin to feel like a gimmick, but the filmmakers pull from every corner of his filmography to craft something transcendent. A poolside breakdown harkens back to Cage’s Oscar-winning performance in “ Leaving Las Vegas .” His chemistry with Pascal as the two begin working on a screenplay together keeps the film grounded in character over plot, real emotions over artifice.

In a surreal twist, Cage further flexes his acting chops a la “ Adaptation ” playing the dual role of Nicky (where he’s credited by his real name: Nicolas Kim Coppola), a grotesque ghost of his past self, styled like the outre characters he played in “Wild At Heart” and “Vampire’s Kiss.” Nicky is always there reminding him he is a movie STAR, not just an actor working on his craft or a father patching up a rough relationship with his daughter. Always these multiple aspects of himself wrestle inside Nick, stunting his ability to grow into the man he needs to be for his family right now.

These fictional Cages offer the real Cage the space to marvel at his own mythmaking, the real impact he’s had on his fans, and a showcase to remind Hollywood of his range. This is an actor equally as capable of performing in popcorn fluff and voice acting in family-friend animated films as he is tapping into the madness of “ Mandy ” or the melancholy of “Pig.” Filled with easter eggs for fans of any facet of Cage's career, the filmmakers don’t place a judgment on which of his films have the most value, understanding that a favorite film is intimate and personal, and that what matters is that it does resonate on some level.

Even amidst all this meta-commentary on contemporary filmmaking, the mechanics of Hollywood, and the emotional heft of fandom, Cage the man always knows what is expected of Cage the myth. In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” he finds the perfect synthesis of the two, and in turn delivers one of the most complex, yet crowd-pleasing performances of his career.

This review was filed from the SXSW Film Festival. The film opens on April 22nd.

Marya E. Gates

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Other bylines include Moviefone, The Playlist, Crooked Marquee, Nerdist, and Vulture.

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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent movie poster

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

105 minutes

Nicolas Cage as Nicolas 'Nick' Cage

Pedro Pascal as Javi Gutierrez

Neil Patrick Harris as Ted

Tiffany Haddish as Vivian

Lily Mo Sheen as Addy

Ike Barinholtz as Ray

Sharon Horgan

Tom Gormican
Kevin Etten
Melissa Bretherton

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The unbearable weight of massive talent, common sense media reviewers.

Hilarious, playful, violent riff on actor Nicolas Cage.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

In a roundabout way, movie is actually about looki

It's difficult to consider this fictional "Nick Ca

The second most important character is a Latino ma

Cartoonishly violent third act. Guns and shooting;

Brief kissing. Sex-related dialogue, sexual gestur

Frequent language includes many uses of "f--k," "s

Characters eat Froot Loops cereal in one scene and

Teens briefly smoke pot. Adults drink regularly, s

Positive Messages

In a roundabout way, movie is actually about looking past your own wants and needs to try to discover others' wants and needs.

Positive Role Models

It's difficult to consider this fictional "Nick Cage" as a role model, given that he's selfish and ill-behaved for large portions of the movie, but he does pump up his courage and charge into battle to save his loved ones, as well as a young girl he doesn't even know.

Diverse Representations

The second most important character is a Latino man. A Black woman also has an important supporting role.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Cartoonishly violent third act. Guns and shooting; characters are shot and killed. Blood stains. Car chases, with crashed vehicles. Teen girl attacked, roughly grabbed and thrown on floor, unconscious. Knife held to throat, character stabbed. Hitting with blunt objects. Character slapped, punched. Character hit by car. Characters undergo "whip therapy," receiving painful blows on their backs. Shouting, arguing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief kissing. Sex-related dialogue, sexual gesture, mention of "porn star."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent language includes many uses of "f--k," "s--t," "motherf----r," "bulls--t," "a--hole," "son of a bitch," "d--k," and "hell." "Oh my God" and "Jesus Christ" used as exclamations.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Characters eat Froot Loops cereal in one scene and mention the name Froot Loops several times, talking about how tasty they are. Cereal box displayed in background. Vans shoes shown. Paddington 2 is referenced as a movie that makes people want to become better humans.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Teens briefly smoke pot. Adults drink regularly, sometimes excessively. Adults take LSD (laugh, feel paranoid, etc.). Character touched by "incapacitating chemical" begins acting drunk, slurring words, etc.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a self-referential "meta" action comedy that riffs on Nicolas Cage 's particular brand of talent and fame. Viewers will need to be familiar with Cage and his work to fully enjoy the film; if you are, then it's highly recommended. Violence is cartoonish but intense, with guns and shooting, blood stains, car crashes, fighting, hitting with blunt objects, someone getting hit by a car, threats with guns and knives, punching, and a teen girl being roughly grabbed, thrown to the floor, and knocked unconscious. Language includes many uses of "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "motherf----r," and more. Teens briefly smoke pot, and adults drink excessively and take LSD, with no real consequences. A character suffers the effects of an "incapacitating" drug, slurring his words and seeming drunk. There's also brief kissing, sex-related dialogue, and a sexual gesture. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

Parents say (6)
Kids say (8)

Based on 6 parent reviews

Really funny, very enjoyable, but quite profane.

What's the story.

In THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, actor Nicolas Cage ( Nicolas Cage ) is pinning all his hopes on a part in a new David Gordon Green movie, to hopefully get his career on track. When he doesn't get it, he's forced to take a $1 million paycheck to appear at a birthday party for Spanish billionaire businessman and Cage superfan Javi Gutierrez ( Pedro Pascal ) in Mallorca. Surprisingly, the two men hit it off and start discussing a new project. Unfortunately, Nick is contacted by CIA agents ( Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz ) and informed that Javi has likely kidnapped the 16-year-old daughter of a presidential candidate -- and could Nick please search for her while he's in the compound? Thus begins a movie-like adventure for Cage, who must not only rescue the girl but also protect his estranged wife ( Sharon Horgan ) and his own teen daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen).

Is It Any Good?

While not exactly a profound deep dive into meta-movie-ness, this lovable Nic Cage action-comedy is still a hilarious, playful take on perceived movie star image, personality, and human connections. Truthfully, most of the stuff in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has already appeared in many other meta movies, from Last Action Hero and Being John Malkovich to This Is the End and Always Be My Maybe (the latter of which featured Keanu Reeves in an inspired parody of his star image). And this is hardly any kind of visual or structural masterpiece, as was Adaptation (also with Cage). We can practically feel the second act snapping shut just as Javi suggests that he and Cage "get to work on the third act." Cage playing "himself" is the key here, riffing on the singularly odd and lovable personality quirks he's built up over the course of 100+ movies, including his trademark "Full Cage" over-the-top performances.

Yet the movie, co-written by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten and directed by Gormican, is smart enough to understand that 107 minutes of wild scenery chewing wouldn't be enough (even with the wacky appearances of a youthful, Vampire's Kiss -era "Nicky," who appears to give the current Nick some demented guidance). The inspired casting of the soulful Pascal begins to round things out as the men bond, at first over their mutual love of Cage and then over more human matters ( Paddington 2 is cleverly used as a lever to execute this change). Nick's relationship with his family is also touchingly messy, as he struggles to get past his own baggage to connect with them. But above all, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is truly funny, riffing on obscure nuggets in Cage's filmography ( Guarding Tess , anyone?) and also creating generally wacky humor. This may not be the "real" Nick Cage, but he's awfully fun to be around.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How are drinking and drug use depicted? Are they glamorized in any way? Are there consequences? Why is that important?

How different do you think the movie character "Nick Cage" is from the real-life person?

What is a "meta" movie? Are all meta movies comedies? Why, or why not?

Are you a "superfan" of anyone in particular? What about that artist is special? How do you think you would behave if you could meet them?

Movie Details

In theaters : April 22, 2022
On DVD or streaming : July 8, 2022
Cast : Nicolas Cage , Pedro Pascal , Sharon Horgan
Director : Tom Gormican
Inclusion Information : Latino actors, Female actors
Studio : Lionsgate
Genre : Comedy
Run time : 107 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence
Last updated : June 19, 2023

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Review: Being Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage plays Nick Cage — maybe, kind of, not really — in a comically romantic, buddy-movie thriller that is also an ode to him in all his Caginess.

Share full article

By Manohla Dargis

Those eyes, that hair, those choppers and, oh, that purring, whining adenoidal voice, which can change pitch and intensity midsentence (midword!) and often seems a bit stuffed up. To know or, anyway, to watch Nicolas Cage is to love him and sometimes also be confused by him (which is A-OK). He can be a joy and a conundrum, startling and remarkable, but also fantastically, gloriously untethered. Who is this? you sometimes wonder, agog. What is this?

In his latest, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Cage fidgets and swaggers and smiles so broadly he looks ready to swallow the screen whole. He charms and alarms, jumps off a cliff and, drink in hand, walks straight into a swimming pool without breaking stride. (Holding onto the bottle, he sinks and then he drinks.) What’s it about? Does it matter? Does it ever? It’s another Nicolas Cage joint, a romp, a showcase, an eager-to-please ode to him in all his sui generis Caginess. That’s the idea, at any rate. Mostly, though, it is a single joke sustained for 106 minutes, amid many rapid tone shifts, mood swings and set changes.

It’s a pretty good joke: Cage plays himself, or rather a variation on a star also named Nick Cage. Wrung out, inching toward bankruptcy, proud yet humbled, and yearning for a role that’s worthy of his self-regard, this avatar looks and sounds like the real deal. Certainly, he resembles the star who, since swiveling heads with “Valley Girl” and Uncle Francis’ “Rumble Fish” back in 1983, has made films both sublime and forgettable, married repeatedly (Elvis’s daughter!), won an Oscar (“Leaving Las Vegas”), whipped up vats of tabloid slobber and accrued a cult following that will giggle at this movie’s every reverent allusion: Not the bees .

There’s a story, way too much of one, crammed into an overstuffed, self-reflexive entertainment that soon finds Cage flying abroad. Paired with a second banana (an amped Pedro Pascal), he embarks on an adventure that — in its vibe, beats and banality — is closer to “National Treasure” than David Lynch’s cold, cruel “Wild at Heart.” There’s also an ex (Sharon Horgan) and a daughter (Lily Sheen), who pop in and out and seem to have been written in because: a) producers know they now need more than one woman in the cast; and b) they want to prove, à la US Weekly, that celebrities are just like us, except for the private jets.

“Massive Talent” finds its mojo once Cage and Pascal team up and start trading quips, dodging obstacles and vamping for the audience. It’s very Hope and Crosby loosey-goosey, though sometimes it’s more blotto Snoop and Martha. Cage and Pascal bounce off each other nicely, with Pascal playing the wall to Cage’s ricocheting ball. Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz show up as spies who dragoon Cage into a covert operation that allows the filmmakers to shift to more commercial terrain and bring out the heavy artillery. That partly explains all the love here for John Woo’s ballistic, balletic “Face/Off,” even if someone forgot the doves.

The director Tom Gormican, who wrote the script with Kevin Etten, gets the job done, churning the nonsense. There are no surprises other than the movie is watchable and amusing, though it’s too bad Gormican didn’t let Cage and Pascal just go with the absurdist, shambolic flow. Cage doesn’t need a reason for you to watch him, least of all good material. He’s Nicolas Cage, master of his own universe, maker of strange poetry, breaker of hearts. He can eat a roach , love a pig and inhabit a movie so profoundly that its quality is superfluous. “He’s up there in the air,” Pauline Kael wrote in a review of his freak-fest “Vampire’s Kiss,” “it’s a little dizzying — you’re not quite sure you understand what’s going on.” Amen to that.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Rated R for language and gun violence. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis has been the co-chief film critic since 2004. She started writing about movies professionally in 1987 while earning her M.A. in cinema studies at New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

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‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Review: Nicolas Cage in a Meta Action Comedy That’s a Witty Meditation on Nicolas Cage

He's perfectly cast in a film that tweaks and celebrates his extended resume of over-the-top acting.

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Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - Critic's Pick

Tom Gormican, the director and co-writer of “Unbearable Weight,” knows all too well that when it comes to Nicolas Cage, you can’t separate the specialness from the cheese. That’s the source of Cage’s inside-out cool: that you’re laughing at him the very moment he leaves all subtlety and good taste behind, and he does it with so much shameless commitment and purple passion that our giggles fuse with something like awe.

Actors have onscreen lives and offscreen lives, and in most cases that’s all there is to it. But Nicolas Cage, in addition to having both those things, has a third life — as a meme, an unintentional tongue-in-cheek identity that has emerged from the mountains of outrageously over-the-top acting he’s done. Of all the actors of the last three or four decades who’ve been willing to squander their talent on what we call paycheck movies, Cage is the unabashed king. And that says something about who he is. Each time Cage makes one of those films, like “Ghost Rider” or “Bangkok Dangerous” or “Mandy,” what you see on some level is a projection of his desperation — the fact that he’s a dude who needs the money this badly, or has simply fallen out of respectability and will take whatever role comes his way.

In his way, Cage has become an ironic legend: the superhero of slumming. And the unique thing about him is that you can no longer separate the grade-Z Nicolas Cage movies from the grade-A Nicolas Cage movies. That’s because they share the DNA of his compulsion to express who he is by leaving all restraint behind. He first started doing that back in the ’80s, in prestige Hollywood films like “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “Moonstruck.” By the time he made “Wild at Heart,” in 1990, playing a kind of postmodern bad-boy Elvis, he seemed to be directing every line toward the peanut gallery, or maybe to the legend in his own mind. A Nic Cage Moment will be all about his eruption — that instant when he slides from normal acting into operatic overacting, as if the devil made him do it. What Cage’s fans know is that there’s a metaphysic to being Nicolas Cage, and it is this: Any actor who needs to act this much can only be satisfied when he’s acting… THIS MUCH .

“The Unbearable Weightiness of Massive Talent” opens with a canny portrait of Cage, wearing a beard that seems to signify bourbon-sozzled middle-aged depression, as a fallen Hollywood player who is no longer in line for the good roles. The portrait is fiction, of course, but it’s rooted in our highly detailed media perception of Cage. So it seems real. This Nic is a divorced dad who’s got a crummy relationship with his teenage daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen), because all he ever thinks about is his acting career. After a meeting with a prestige director at the Chateau Marmont, his hunger to land the role he’s up for is so intense that he offers to read for the part — and does, complete with bad Boston accent — right there in the parking driveway. At a therapy session with Addy, the two discuss how he made her watch “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” with him because it’s one of his favorite movies, never suspecting that his 21st-century daughter might not be so interested in a 100-year-old silent film with expressionist madman sets.

A fading star who’s a ruthless narcissist sounds like a cliché. But in Cage’s case the joke is that it’s the very fuel of his persona — his need to go over-the-top, because it’s all a way of seizing the attention he thinks he deserves. In the movie, Cage has conversations with himself in the form of a cooler, younger alter ego — a de-aged Nicolas Cage, in a swath of honey-blond hair and a shiny leather jacket, who tries to coax him into being the Cage he should be. The “real” Nic is riddled with self-doubt; the imaginary Nic is all teeth-flashing bravado. But, of course, that’s exactly who Cage has been in movies like “Con Air” and “Face/Off” and “Wild at Heart” and “National Treasure” — an actor who represses all doubt, and therefore seems heroic and ridiculous at the same moment.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is at once a gently preposterous buddy movie; a poker-faced crime thriller in which Nic is coerced, by a couple of CIA agents ( Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz), into spying on Javi, who they allege has kidnapped the daughter of the president of Catalonia; and a hall-of-mirrors romp in which the life of Nicolas Cage turns into a movie and then back again. Gormican stages it all with a witty instinct for how suspense can acquire comedy without losing its tension, but mostly he attunes every moment to Cage’s hangdog anxiety, and to the drama-queen dimension that allows him to oscillate between the “real” Nic Cage and the Cage of his dreams. As Nic and Javi become friends, the two drop acid (in a sequence of hilariously precise paranoia) and they goad each other into taking each moment and kicking it up into their very own “movie.” As Cage’s ex-wife (Sharon Horgan), along with Addy, shows up to save him, and the real criminals come to the fore, the entire situation begins to coax Nicolas Cage into becoming… Nicolas Cage . It’s his destiny.

The film is speckled with clips from Nicolas Cage movies, quotes and gestures form Nicolas Cage movies, and a visit to Javi’s museum of Nicolas Cage memorabilia. Yet what makes “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” a joke thriller with an exuberant resonance is that its true subject is the magic of movies. It’s about how an actor like Cage can mean so much to us because, in the very extremity of his flamboyance, he’s acting out something that means so much to him. He’s not suffering for his art, but he’s doing what may be the next best thing: showing off for it.

Reviewed at Paramount Theatre (SXSW Celebrity Films), March 12, 2022. Running time: 105 MIN.

Production: A Lionsgate release of a Saturn Films production. Producers: Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, Kevin Turen. Executive producer: Samson Mucke.
Crew: Director: Tom Gormican. Screenplay: Tom Gormican, Kevin Turen. Camera: Nigel Bluck. Editor: Melissa Bretherton. Music: Mark Isham.
With: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Lily Sheen, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, .

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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Reviews

It have an insanely formulaic story, but Gormican subverts enough character arcs to make it enticing.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Mar 6, 2024

Nick Cage + Pedro Pascal = Must See Movie

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Draped in exaggerated fun, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent starts out as a light spy thriller, but quickly morphs into a buddy comedy turned pop culture popcorn picture.

An admirable tribute to one of the most iconic actors of his generation: Nicolas Cage. A hilariously insane, absurd journey through a career filled with unforgettable gems, equally ridiculous and without any creative constraints.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 25, 2023

Had the script fully let loose, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent could have lived up to its grand name.

Nicolas Cage injects life (and a little bit of insanity) into a self-referential comedy that honors his eccentric career and the art of performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 21, 2023

There's never a wink. Even in a movie that feels like two Godzilla-sized eyelids staring right at the audience before closing together, Nicolas Cage's calculations are his own.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Mar 20, 2023

Cage and Pascal play it like all the best bromances, moving from awkward introductions to extreme enthusiasm and calm comfort to unhinged chaos with a smile.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 20, 2023

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT is a wonderfully warm, funny, and touching comedy that is also very meta about the craft of acting, the life of an actor, and filmmaking. It has a lot to say about creativity versus commerce.

Full Review | Dec 28, 2022

This is comedic Gold! Nicolas Cage is not only the sounding personality this film, but he is also amazing in it! He and Pedro Pascal are so amazingly funny and engaging together that they sweep you along for this insane ride! A Nic Cage Fans must watch!

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Dec 26, 2022

Cagemas came early! But, don't call it a Charlie Kaufman metastyle narrative, for you might be disappointed with this otherwise delightful, multi-hyphenate genre flick starring the one and only Nicolas Cage in the role he was born to play, Nic Cage.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Dec 10, 2022

Nicolas Cage. Pedro Pascal. Need I say more?

Full Review | Nov 17, 2022

One of the funniest films (so far) of 2022, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a hoot from the get-go and its unrelenting comedy and charm remind audiences how cinema can be fun.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2022

I have not had as much fun watching a movie in quite some time as I had watching The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Full Review | Sep 28, 2022

It's nice, as we gird our loins for a summer chock full of Marvel madness and Scientology-adjacent fighter plane porn, that we get to enjoy two movies as unconventionally badass and heartwarming as this and <i>Everything Everywhere All at Once.</i>

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 16, 2022

The film deftly balances the absurd plot with a massive amount of heart to create a film that will undoubtedly stand the test of time, not just for Cage fans, but for folks just looking to have a fun time.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Sep 2, 2022

By the time the excessively boring car chase rolled around, I had more or less emotionally checked out. It had become apparent that what I valued in the movie wasn't what its makers -- director Tom Gormican and his co-writer Kevin Etten -- valued.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Aug 24, 2022

You could say “Unbearable Weight” is the ultimate cash-in for an actor often cited for his many cash-in performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 16, 2022

Rather nutty, kind of sweet and genuinely funny.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 12, 2022

The sense of humour is very self-referential but it always manages to pull back before it gets overbearing, and thankfully puts much of its weight in a more emotionally-driven tale of a man attempting to rediscover his passion.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 26, 2022

Review: Nicolas Cage admirably abides ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’

Two men ride in a jeep in the movie in “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

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In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Nicolas Cage is back — not that he ever went away. That’s one of the oft-repeated observations made about Cage’s acting career in the meta-on-meta action comedy in which Nicolas Cage stars as Nicolas Cage, Hollywood star, tangled up in an international incident while reevaluating his life and life’s work.

This is a film about Nicolas Cage , for Nicolas Cage (and Nicolas Cage fans, ultimately), and it fundamentally would not work without Nicolas Cage being willing to poke a little fun at himself and his long career, full of transcendentally bonkers action movie performances, Oscar-winning roles and paycheck gigs alike. Cage is also the best thing in this movie, which is delightfully clever and funny when he is on-screen, and saggy and tedious when he’s not. While the self-referential Hollywood commentary is a blast (if a bit inside baseball), the actual action-comedy is thinly plotted, rote, guns-blazing nonsense.

Written by director Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” appeared on the 2019 Black List, the collection of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. The writers sent the script to Cage with a note conveying their respect and reverence for the actor, and he agreed to sign on, which is not far from the plot of the film itself.

Nick (Cage) is floundering in his career, in the process of a divorce from Olivia (Sharon Horgan) and struggling in his relationship with 16-year-old daughter Addy (Lily Sheen). For a million-dollar paycheck, he reluctantly decides to take a gig attending a superfan’s birthday in Mallorca, but when he arrives, he learns that his host, said super fan Javi ( Pedro Pascal ), has a screenplay to pitch. Nick also discovers that two CIA agents ( Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) are hot on Javi’s tail, suspecting that he may have kidnapped a presidential candidate’s daughter, and they’re eager to make Nick an asset.

While Nick develops a relationship with Javi to relay intel back to the CIA, the two men decide to collaborate on their own screenplay, a “grounded adult drama” about their friendship, which adds an extra layer of meta to this already meta project. The best bits of the comedy revolve around references to Cage’s career and cracks about Hollywood, so this film will hit best with audiences in on the joke. The other comedic attempts fall a bit flat, and the action is the kind of perfectly serviceable, if unremarkable style that serves most midbudget action comedies these days.

The real spectacle of the film is Cage, who despite all the ups and downs in his career choices, is an undeniable Movie Star, and when he’s simply playing himself (or the heightened version of himself required here) he’s utterly compelling. This is a man who can make a YouTube interview wildly fascinating on any day of the week, so his screen presence has never been in question.

Thankfully, Cage and Pascal demonstrate infectious chemistry because both performers go for broke and embrace the silliness of the conceit. Pascal matches Cage’s energy, and that’s what makes their scenes work.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” knows that what it has going for it is Nicolas Cage, and Nicolas Cage is what makes this otherwise forgettable comedy worth the watch. It’s not necessarily only for super fans, but super fans will be richly rewarded by this love letter to Cage, who, remember, never went away.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’

Rating: R, for language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes Playing: Starts April 22 in general release

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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

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Nicolas cage in ‘the unbearable weight of massive talent’: film review | sxsw 2022.

Nicolas Cage meets Nicolas Cage's biggest fan (Pedro Pascal) in Tom Gormican's funhouse-mirror buddy picture costarring Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz.

By John DeFore

John DeFore

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‘Nick Cage’ greets ‘Javi Gutierrez’ with a ‘Palm Hold Fist’ salute as he arrives in Mallorca, Spain.

At what point did Nicolas Cage become not just an actor or movie star but an entire concept of big-screen performing, more successful in his taste-be-damned outbursts than Al Pacino, and beloved even — maybe especially — when he’s failing to do what we typically expect of actors, which is to make us forget it’s all an act?

For this former Austinite, it was when the Dobie Theater programmed Vampire’s Kiss at midnight, allowing drunken UT freshmen to stumble from nearby Jester dorm, night after night, to watch him leap atop a desk and shout “THERE you are!” at Maria Conchita Alonso’s poor secretary Alva. Success in blockbusters made such outbursts rarer for a while, but Cage’s weird side was impossible to conceal for long, and sometimes it even served the movies he starred in.

Full credits

Venue: SXSW Film Festival (Headliners) Distributor: Lionsgate Production companies: Saturn Films, Burr! Productions Cast: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish Director: Tom Gormican Screenwriters: Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten Producers: Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, Kevin Turen Executive Producer: Samson Mucke Director of photography: Production designer: Kevin Kavanaugh Costume designer: Paco Delgado Editor: Melissa Bretherton Composer: Mark Isham Casting directors: Jessica Kelly, Mary Vernieu

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The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Review

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

“I’m an actor,” declares Nick Cage , in the role of his lifetime, playing Nick Cage. “No! You’re a fucking movie star, don’t you forget this!” screams back another Cage, digitally de-aged to his youthful, Wild At Heart heyday as a roaring ego-phantom version of the actor (playfully credited as ‘Nicky Kim Coppola’). We’ve seen Cage acting opposite himself before (to Oscar-nominated acclaim in Adaptation ), and we’ve seen him frolicking in a meta playground, too ( Adaptation , again). But Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent — title of the year, no arguments — catapults it all to a whole new level.

The movie won’t disappoint Cage aficionados. It opens with a clip from Con Air , contains tongue-in-cheek nods to The Croods 2 , Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Guarding Tess , and features a scene packed with Cage-flavoured props, from Mandy ’s chainsaw to the twin gold guns from Face/Off .

Cage himself has never been more game. It’s one thing to eat a cockroach (as he did for Vampire’s Kiss ); it’s a whole other to chew up and spit out your own career with an accepting self-awareness of every criticism levelled at you (“You seem to be working all the time,” his therapist notes) and turn it into a full-blown comedy.

The real double act here is not Nick and Nicky, but Cage and Pascal.

But what lies beyond the film’s central self-efface/off conceit? You’d be forgiven for expecting a bit of an indulgent binge, with little more to offer than the first-world-problem tussle between Cage’s fragile worth as an “actor” and his diminishing stature as “a movie star”. However, while the overarching plot knowingly pings between the Cagey extremes of adult, character-driven drama and cojone-swinging action bombast, what really emerges is a surprisingly sweet and affecting buddy comedy.

The real double act here is not Nick and Nicky (in fact, Gormican wisely holds back on the showy inner dialogues), but Cage and Pascal, as two guys from very different worlds who form an improbable bond amid high-stakes circumstances. While Cage leans into his amplified, unfiltered persona (“I should always trust my shamanistic instincts as a thespian!”), Pascal nimbly balances an appealing, starry-eyed guilelessness with underlying shades of threat. They gel well, and the film is stronger when they share the frame than when it’s dabbling in Clouseau-esque slapstick (Cage’s first foray into spycraft) or letting the bullets fly and the cars crash.

The supporting characters are a little thinly drawn, with Sharon Horgan eye-rolling for Ireland as Nick’s ex-wife and Tiffany Haddish exasperatedly instructing Cage via an earpiece. And although the story’s ‘neglected family’ thread skirts mawkishness — yes, there’s a hard-to-relate-to teenage daughter (Lily Mo Sheen) — it does land somewhere more feel-good than feel-annoyed, thanks in no small part to Gormican’s evident affection for Paddington 2 (don’t ask, just watch).

It’s an occasionally patchy affair, then — but given Cage’s own résumé, that seems oddly appropriate. And, as we said, if you’re familiar with that résumé, there’s plenty here to make you go, “Whoooah!”

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How to Save a Movie Star From Himself

I don’t think aspirationist is a word, but I think Nicolas Cage would forgive me for making up a word to describe him, because that’s exactly what he is: American cinema’s great aspirationist. His characters are often trying to emulate or live up to an ideal — whether that be Elvis in Wild at Heart and Honeymoon in Vegas , Humphrey Bogart in Dog Eat Dog , Fabian in Peggy Sue Got Married , or simply the concept of domestic, child-filled bliss in Raising Arizona . Aspiration is the ideology that underlies his whole star persona. The people Cage plays don’t have goals; they have models. They live under the shadow of others and often seek to become them, which is funny because they are all still never not Nicolas Cage. (Therein lies the beauty of Face/Off , in which Nicolas Cage becomes John Travolta and John Travolta becomes Nicolas Cage, but they somehow both wind up being Nicolas Cage.)

What makes Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent special, then, is not so much that Nicolas Cage plays Nicolas Cage but that the film presents us with a Nicolas Cage who spends a lot of time aspiring to be more like, well, “Nicolas Cage” — or as the film puts it, “Nick fuckin’ yahow! Cage!” That yelp comes courtesy of an unhinged, floppy-haired, de-aged version of Cage that “the real” Cage occasionally finds himself talking to, a version that still exists in the popular imagination. And it’s touching to watch the mopey older actor arguing (and at one point making out) with his blustery movie-star self because, in truth, both variations are pathetic: Movie Star Cage is full of empty, outdated gestures, and Serious Actor Cage is a self-important loser who pins down directors and delivers monologues as he desperately tries to land parts. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent presents us with a Cage who’s reached a dead end personally and professionally, but it also poignantly suggests that the dead end in question came a long, long time ago.

And so this self-centered celebrity and neglectful parent, running low on money and struggling to get the roles he really wants, agrees to fly to Mallorca to attend the birthday party of a Spanish billionaire named Javi (Pedro Pascal) for a million dollars. Depressed about his professional fortunes, Cage plans to announce his retirement from acting right after this last gig. Meanwhile, Javi is being staked out by two CIA agents (Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish), who believe he’s responsible for the recent kidnapping of the Catalan president’s daughter. They enlist Cage’s help in their investigation, and he soon finds himself torn between his hilariously inept attempts to locate the missing girl and his growing fondness for puppy-eyed, adoring superfan Javi, with whom he spends his time cliff-diving, talking old films, working on a script, and watching Paddington 2 . ( Massive Talent appears to have been made with one eye toward social-media ingratiation, which would ordinarily be annoying but here feels totally appropriate.)

Cage’s dilemma reflects the psychological rift in his character. The young girl he needs to save happens to be around the same age as his daughter (played by Lily Sheen, who is not actually Nicolas Cage’s daughter but is in fact Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen’s daughter), whom he loves but has alienated through his self-absorption. Javi, on the other hand, gives the movie-star egomaniac side of Cage renewed life, telling him he can’t retire. “You have a gift,” he tells Cage. “And to turn your back on this gift is to turn your back on the entire human race.” In return, Cage tells the CIA that through the intuitive power of his “nouveau-shamanic acting ability,” he can tell that Javi is innocent, a good soul. It all sounds like bullshit, of course, and it’s to Cage’s credit (the real Cage’s) that he’s allowed every single fiber of his public persona to be picked apart by this film.

There are modest twists here and there, and a couple of dropped bits suggest that the picture has gone through its share of postproduction challenges. In its broad strokes, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a fairly by-the-numbers action comedy, one that sometimes wears Cage’s presence like a talisman against the bad juju of slipshod storytelling. But the talisman works because the film never loses sight of its touchingly nutty premise and because Cage remains a compelling actor. For all the grandiosity and stylization of his performances, there’s always been something highly relatable about this need to live up to the image of others — a hazy inadequacy that marks him, ultimately, as one of us. This time, when the image he must live up to turns out to be Nicolas Cage, something quite wonderful and unexpectedly truthful emerges.

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‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Review: Nicolas Cage Rules in Hilarious Brom-Com

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. Lionsgate releases the film in theaters on Friday, April 22.

Depending on your taste, the idea of Nicolas Cage playing himself either sounds like a self-indulgent disaster or the most fun you’ve had at a movie in years. Fortunately, even the most Cage-ambivalent will have to admit “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is solidly the latter. The meta-comedy sees the fictional movie star “Nick Cage” working with the CIA to solve a political kidnapping by the Spanish mafia, all while having a cinephile bromance with a mega-fan played by Pedro Pascal. Though movie references and Cage quotes abound, there’s something for everyone in “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” It’s one of the funniest movies of the year.

Directed by Tom Gormican from a script he wrote with Kevin Etten, the zippy meta-comedy plays like a fan letter to Cage from someone who’s not only seen a lot of movies, but has good taste. Toggling between Hollywood insider comedy to spy thriller to bromance, at times it feels like the movie is threading the world’s most ridiculous needle. What begins as a highbrow episode of “Entourage” quickly turns into a hilarious spy spoof grounded by a genuine friendship love story between adult men. It works not only because Cage and Pascal are truly brilliant together, but because the movie conjures a world that, however ridiculous, makes its own rules and follows them.

Fictional Cage, who goes by Nick for most of the movie, is a movie star who’s down on his luck. The movie opens with Nick accosting the director of a project he set his sights on, which he says could be his “King Lear.” Both his daughter (Lily Sheen) and ex-wife (the fantastic Sharon Horgan) are fed-up with his narcissistic movie star routine, and he’s in debt due to his lavish lifestyle. When his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) brings him an offer to appear at a birthday party in Mallorca for a million dollar payday, he has no choice but to reluctantly accept. (A very Hollywood spa meeting where they get flogged with branches together is a delight.)

Throughout the movie Nick is visited by Nicky, a mop-haired specter of his younger self who glows with either the folly of youth or tons of plastic surgery. Whichever it is, that unsettling de-aging CGI effect works oddly well in this context — it’s supposed to be weird. In interviews, the real Cage said this character was what interested him most about the project, an admission that reveals more about him than the actual movie does. Nicky has streaked blonde Marilyn Manson hair and hounds Nick about his career choices, shouting: “You’re not an actor, you’re a fucking movie star!” Nicky’s worst nightmare is that Nick play “the gay uncle in the next Duplass brothers movie.”

If Nicky is the fame-hungry devil on Nick’s shoulder, then Javi (Pascal) is his creatively aligned angel. Unbeknownst to Nick, Javi has a screenplay he’s itching for Nick to read, and nurses pipe dreams of someday working with him. After a few drinks, they discover their shared love of cinema, which includes “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (cinephiles will enjoy a running “Dr. Caligari” gag). When two CIA officers (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) contact Nick, revealing that Javi is the head of a major Spanish crime organization who kidnapped a teenage girl for political reasons, Nick genuinely mourns the loss of their blossoming bromance.

When Nick must draw on his considerable talents to save the young girl (and symbolically repair his relationship with his daughter), he muses on the similarities between espionage and acting. To maintain his cover with Javi and extend his stay on the compound, he agrees to develop a script with his new friend. Thus begin the movie’s most meta elements, which unsurprisingly are also its most self-indulgent.

Though it’s funny to hear Nick wax poetic about movies, things get a little winking when Nick starts saying things like, “I can’t stand talky comedies. It’s gotta have some plot to move it forward.” We’ve long gotten the point by the time Nick says, “It’s time to figure out how this thing ends.” But it’s only because the movie has so succeeded at its professed plot-driven comedy that these lines feel unnecessary. There’s a lot going on, but for the most part it all comes together. The script is smart enough to translate without such blatant nods at what it’s doing — and the audience is, too.

Another key reason the movie works is the chemistry between Cage and Pascal; a crackling harmony between two dramatic actors who can also do comedy riffing wildly. Pascal is an avowed Cage fan himself, though he doesn’t have a life-size wax figure of the actor in his secret villain lair like Javi does. As the characters push each other further off the deep end, so do the actors, raising the stakes with each exchange. Their appealing synergy begs the question: could Pedro Pascal be the next Nicolas Cage? Maybe there’s room for two.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review: Nicolas Cage plays himself in surreal meta-comedy

Enter the Cage match.

There are some parts an actor was born to play. So you can forgive the typecasting of Nicolas Cage as an uncommonly intense middle-aged movie star named Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (in theaters April 22), a loopy fourth-wall-shattering goof of a movie whose showily meta premise is mostly cover for a sweet and surprisingly conventional action-comedy.

The Cage onscreen in Talent is a construct, albeit one who seems to share his real-life alter ego's taste for grand dojo hand gestures and kumquat-sized cocktail rings. In one of the film's earliest scenes, a desperate "Nic" — once a box-office king, now more known for the sheer volume of his roles — tanks a lunch meeting with a producer type at the leafy industry haunt Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. He can't help unleashing a full monologue in the man's vaguely terrified face at valet pickup, and that's this Cage's problem: He's always overwhelming whoever's in the room with the sheer tiger-blood energy of his enthusiasms, whether that's a wary bystander, his cringing teenage daughter (Lily Sheen), or his most recent ex-wife ( Catastroph e's Sharon Horgan , perfectly wry and gratifyingly age-appropriate).

He's also famously fast and loose with money, so when his smarmy agent ( Neil Patrick Harris ) floats a $1 million dollar offer just to show up at a Spanish billionaire's birthday party, he reluctantly agrees; there's a $600,000 post-divorce hotel bill that's not going to pay itself. He also knows, at least on some level, that he desperately needs a comeback ("Not that I went anywhere"). Arriving bleary-eyed at a sun-struck private villa in Mallorca, he's both gratified and a little taken aback to find that his eager host, Javi ( Pedro Pascal ), is a Cage superfan of the highest, geekiest order; a man happy at first just to bask in his celebrity guest's glow, though he does, of course, have a screenplay he'd love him to check out.

Javi actually seems, beneath his fan-boy fervor and Gucci loafers, like a pretty nice guy. But the slow dance of their male bonding is soon rudely interrupted by Vivian ( Tiffany Haddish ) and Martin ( Ike Barinholtz ), two CIA agents with an agenda of their own: They'd like the actor to help them recover the kidnapped teenage daughter of a Catalan presidential candidate that they claim Javi, a ruthless international arms dealer, is holding hostage on his property. And why not, Cage reasons? His self-professed "nouveau shamanic" abilities as a thespian are nothing if not training for Mission: Impossible intrigue.

Martin and Vivian turn out to be less capable than most true-crime podcast enthusiasts at running a sting operation, so it's not long, unsurprisingly, before things go awry. Writer-director Tom Gormican (TV's Ghosted ), who penned the amusingly scattershot script with Kevin Etten ( Scrubs , Workaholics ) mostly uses that incompetence as an excuse to launch several bravura set pieces, from a cat-burgling impeded by a paralytic nerve agent to an LSD trip gone spectacularly off the rails, with much use of the local Andalusian scenery.

Talent paints those bits in the broad comedic strokes of a caper, occasionally punctuated by the surreal appearance of Cage's younger, aggressively FaceTuned self as his own spirit animal, howling and raging against the dying of the Con Air light. ( Master of None 's Allesandra Mastronardi also appears as Javi's resourceful paramour, and Spanish actor Paco Léon as a sneering, bleach-haired gangster). Gormican never really does as much with his high-flying concept as he might; the movie's second half mostly gives way to antic chase scenes and general shenanigans. But Cage, so great and unexpectedly subdued in last year's small-scale indie drama Pig , has a ball with his own myth-making, a star contracting and expanding in the movie's fun-house mirror of fame and destabilized celebrity. Not that he ever went anywhere. Grade: B

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review – Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Cage

Playing himself, Cage serves the acting fans love him for – but has this strained action comedy spoiled the joke?

N icolas Cage has officially revealed he’s in on the joke … if “joke” is precisely what it is. But has that spoiled the joke – if that is the correct word? This is a self-aware action comedy whose title is possibly the funniest bit, riffing on Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being as well as possibly Dave Eggers’s memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Producer-star Cage plays “Nick Cage”: Hollywood ledge and national treasure (to quote a relevant movie title) now in a midlife crisis, haunted by CGI-doppelganger visions of his angry younger self, no longer booking the big roles and facing a grim future in which, as his agent ( Neil Patrick Harris ) puts it, he plays the cool gay uncle in a Duplass brothers film.

Cage is living in a hotel, estranged from his wife Olivia (a thanklessly unfunny role for Sharon Horgan ) and moody teen daughter Addy (Lily Mo Sheen), who hates the movie classics he tries introducing her to. (I was waiting for Addy to declare herself instead a massive fan of movies by the Coppola family. Maybe that would be an in-joke too far.) Cash-strapped Cage is forced to accept a million-dollar appearance fee at the spectacular luxury home of a billionaire plutocrat Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) who is a besotted superfan. But then the CIA gets word to our hero that Javi is a dangerous cartel gangster and Cage must use his privileged access to bring him down.

There are some entertaining meta-touches here, but the entire Gutierrez plot is strained and borderline dull. Pascal isn’t a natural comic and the movie winds up fudging his crucial bad-guy status. As for Cage, this isn’t like Leslie Nielsen sending up his erstwhile straight-lead image for Airplane! and The Naked Gun, nor is it exactly like John Malkovich fabricating a complex fictional self in Being John Malkovich. Cage simply plays Cage in the moderate script he’s been given, in that utterly committed, strangely uncomplicated way that has won the hearts of fans who declare themselves on the right side of the laugh-with/laugh-at dividing line. But Cage has already done a far more interesting postmodern film about the film business – Spike Jonze’s Adaptation , written by Charlie Kaufman, in which Cage gave a far better (dual) performance in a much funnier and better written film as the tormented screenwriter-artist Charlie Kaufman and his middlebrow twin brother Donald. In comparison, this feels lightweight.

Comedy films
Action and adventure films
Nicolas Cage
Sharon Horgan
Neil Patrick Harris

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‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’: Who Wants Some Hot Nic Cage–on–Nic Cage Action?

By David Fear

How much do you love Nicolas Cage ? We have gone on record with our own Cage idolatry , of course, but it’s a question worth considering in regard to the original Valley Guy, the man who raised hell (and Arizona) and modeled snakeskin jackets, the onscreen consumer of live cockroaches, the Oscar-winning actor, the rider of ghosts and hater of bees — on a scale of one to “ scraping at the doorrr!!! ,” where does your unconditional worship rank?

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent — so named because A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was already claimed — takes it for granted that you, the viewer, know and love the 58-year-old movie star’s work, can recite many lines of his dialogue, and debate the merits of his filmography down to the last detail. (Who’s more likely to win in a fight: Castor Troy or Cameron Poe? The answer is, it depends on who’s holding the bunny.) It assumes you know the ups and downs of his career, especially the past two decades of it, and that seeing Real Cage play a Screen Cage who’s stooping to read for parts, guzzling down bourbon, suffering from financial difficulties, and experiencing personal strife will create an interesting sense of frisson. Real Cage is also playing Gonzo Go-for-Baroque Young Cage as well, a figment of Screen Cage’s imagination-slash-cracked-conscience who he calls “Nicky.” (The actor has confirmed that he based this Wild at Heart- era version of himself mostly on his appearance on a 1990 British talk show, and when you watch that clip , you’ll 100 percent understand what he means.)

This fictionalized down-and-out Cage gets the news from his agent (a beautifully unctuous Neil Patrick Harris) that a billionaire wants to fly the star out to his mansion in Mallorca, Spain, and will pay him $1 million to make a personal appearance at his birthday party. The host, Javi Gutierrez ( Pedro Pascal ), is a Cage superfan, complete with a shrine dedicated to all things Nicolas. He’s also an international arms dealer, which means the CIA — in the form of the bickering duo of Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, who’ve done this double act enough to tour it on the road now if they wanted — has taken an interest. They recruit a reluctant Cage to help find some usable evidence on Javi. Nic just wants to get paid and get out alive. If he can also purchase the wax statue of his Face/Off character that Mr. Gutierrez keeps in a glass case, all the better.

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For a while, Unbearable coasts along on this life-imitating-art-chopping-up-life-for-laughs vibe, giving Cage and Pascal the chance to make a warped, goofy buddy comedy involving dropping acid, tooling around Spain’s coast in a sports car, working on possible screenplay ideas, and bonding over the healing power of Paddington 2. There’s a meaty take on the rabbit holes of fame and the wormholes of fandom slithering just beneath the surface, as well as some brain-tickling ideas about the way that a movie star’s legacy and persona(e) can become a prison. It is isn’t afraid to take some off-road detours and side trips in terms of critiquing 21st-century celebrity culture. This is a movie that loves itself some references and callbacks and in-jokes. If you’ve ever wanted to see Nic Cage tongue-kiss himself, consider yourself extremely lucky.

And then, well … director Tom Gormican and his co-writer Kevin Etten just decide to turn everything into a standard Nicolas Cage action flick, with gunfights and set pieces and rescuing his kidnapped ex-wife (Sharon Horgan) and estranged daughter (Lily Mo Sheen) and battling Javi’s right-hand man as he tries to make a play for taking over the criminal empire. You might remember another Nicolas Cage movie, Adaptation (2002), going from witty commentary to third-act brouhaha, although that was a heavily ironic poke at Hollywood’s formulaic screenwriting process. It ended with a genuine real-versus-reel face-off. This just feels like a cop-out.

The logline that had been floating around for a while regarding this film had been that Screen Cage would be forced to reenact Real Cage’s best-known roles to delight his host and help rescue his family, but if that was once the idea that fueled this hall-of-mirrors project, it’s been left on the cutting-room floor. During the post-premiere Q&A at SXSW , the actor mentioned that there was a lot more “Nicky” material that didn’t make it in, which is a shame; those brief sequences bristle with the sort of nutso, kinetic energy that suggests a wilder, deeper, more demented comedy is waiting in the wings, dying to steal the spotlight. The cobbled-together end result does give our man a golden opportunity to strut and fret his hour upon the stage, poking fun at past professional highs and lows and — maybe we’re speculating too much here — using this detour through the fictional Nic Cage metaverse as a safe space for working out some real neuroses.

That’s the sense you get watching him transcend what can be some pretty thin comic material at times. Or perhaps it’s just that Cage’s commitment, not to mention his massive talent, is so strong that he makes you think he’s spelunking in psychological territory rather than just wading through a tide of winks and nudges. You wish the movie wasn’t content to be a feature-length meme and truly deserved what Cage is doing with this long, hard look in the fun-house mirror. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not unbearable by any means. It just should have been so much better.

A version of this review ran as part of our SXSW coverage back in March.

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DVD & Streaming

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Content caution.

In Theaters

April 22, 2022
Nicolas Cage as Nick Cage; Pedro Pascal as Javi Gutierrez; Lily Mo Sheen as Addy Cage; Sharon Horgan as Olivia; Neil Patrick Harris as Richard Fink; Alessandra Mastronardi as Gabriela; Tiffany Haddish as Vivian; Paco León as Lucas Gutierrez

Home Release Date

June 7, 2022
Tom Gormican

Distributor

Movie review.

There are actors. And then there are legends .

Nick Cage is sure that he belongs in that latter category. Sure, he’s done some less than Oscar-worthy films recently. In fact, some have been direct-to-video bits of dreck that have simply paid the bills and little more.

But he was good in all of them. A legend always knows good! He also knows … when to call it quits. And that’s where Nick Cage is now.

Nick recently lost the role of a lifetime he was vying for. His ex-wife and daughter both kinda hate him. And he’s slightly drunk and slumped down in front of a hotel room that he’s been unceremoniously locked out of. It feels as if the world as he knows it is crumbling.

He’s even gone through a typical argument with younger Nick—an imaginary, blazing young version of himself that pops up to urge him forward in his more downcast moments. But he still can’t muster the oomph to keep being … legendary .

In fact, his only viable course of action feels like a depressing one. He’ll have to take some cheesy birthday party gig his agent pushed his way. (Can you believe that!? Nick Cage as a birthday clown!?) But it pays a cool $1 million. And it will allow Nick to pay off his $600,000 hotel bill and start a new non-acting chapter in life. Still, this party is bound to be a geeky gawk-fest. Ugh.

Do Nick reluctantly flies to the exclusive property of this guy named Javi Gutierrez. It’s a pretty top-shelf place. But still, he’s afraid this dude will want some kind of kinky sexual favor or something. I mean he is paying a million bucks.

What Nick finds, however, is unexpected. I mean, yes, this Javi guy is a bit of a fanboy who’s not only seen all of Nick’s, uh, lesser-known films, but has collected memorabilia from them. And he gushingly hopes that Nick might just read his screenplay. But there’s something else surprising here: Nick can’t help but like this guy.

They have the same taste in films, literature … booze. And when they start hanging out and goofing around together it almost feels like a schoolboy sugar rush. They even sit and cry together while watching Paddington 2 . They click the way good friends do. And Nick hasn’t had a good friend in a good a long while.

In the midst of this positive vibe, however, the oddest thing happens. Nick is approached by agents from the CIA who tell him that his million-dollar paycheck isn’t exactly legit. Javi is the head of a ruthless cartel, they tell him. His men have kidnapped a politician’s daughter. And if Nick doesn’t man-up and help the US government, that girl may even be killed.

It’s just not fair. The universe has given Nick another swift kick just as he felt that something good might be leaning his way. Just as he finds a friend, that guy turns out to be a ruthless killer. It’s not fair …

… though truthfully Nick always did think he might be cut out for the spy game.

I mean, he is legendary.

Positive Elements

Nick not only helps the CIA, but when he discovers that their intel is skewed, he takes steps to save the lives of two people who’re in danger. Nick’s relationship with his daughter is greatly improved by the end of the film, and he deliberately chooses his family over his career. He’s rewarded for doing so, the film ending on a quiet declaration that the simple joys of time spent with loved ones is a thing of utmost value.

[ Spoiler Warning ] In truth, Javi isn’t exactly the man the CIA agents believe him to be. And eventually he and Nick become good friends who make sacrifices to help one another. Javi even takes steps to aid Nick in repairing his relationship with both his daughter and his ex-wife. And Nick eventually apologizes to both women for not being present as the husband and dad that they deserved. For his part, Nick encourages Javi in his relationship and in other life choices.

Spiritual Elements

Javi and Nick talk about two characters in a script being “kinda like dueling Christ figures.” Nick walks to a monastery that’s being used as a hideout for criminals.

Sexual Content

After agreeing to do the birthday party, Nick worries that Javi will want him to either perform a sexual act on him or watch as he has sex with someone else.

Nick and his agents wear only in towels at a day spa. And Nick mentions that some young person thought Humphrey Bogart was a porn star.

After a discussion with his imaginary younger self, the younger Nick grabs the older and kisses him then cries out, “Nick Cage smooches good!” Javi kisses a woman he loves.

Violent Content

What starts out as something of a character study eventually evolves into a thumping thriller. We see car chases in which vehicles careen through the streets, smashing into bikes, walls and other vehicles. Trucks and cars flip and crash. Several different individuals get hit by vehicles and thrown to the ground—in a couple cases flying off speeding motorcycles.

Multiple gun fights involve combatants with pistols and automatic weapons. Some moments are played for laughs, but others are much more serious. A guy has a gun shoved into his temple threateningly. He’s told to kill someone or be killed himself. Men are shot in the shoulder and back, stabbed in the leg and chest. A couple people jump off a high precipice into the ocean water below.

We don’t see the bloody results of any of these violent clashes, but we do see some slumped-over bodies of people who have been shot and killed. Two teen girls are kidnapped and held at gunpoint while bound and kneeling together. The imaginary young Nick slaps and later punches his older self. During a kidnapping, a young woman is punched in the face and knocked to the ground unconscious.

Crude or Profane Language

There are more than 60 f-words and 30 s-words in the dialogue mix, along with four uses of “son of a b–ch” and several uses each of “d–n,” “h—” and “a–hole.”

Jesus and God’s names are misused some 20 times (with the latter combined with “d–n” in three of those instances).

Drug and Alcohol Content

After Nick loses a film role that he desperately wanted, he starts drinking heavily. His abundant consumption of wine, beer and hard liquor runs pretty much throughout the film. Javi starts drinking heavily too after they meet. And he also suggests that they take LSD together, which they do. People drink at parties.

A couple smokes weed. Nick and Javi smoke cigarettes. Nick touches his own face with a drug-covered palm-patch and then struggles with the potentially lethal drug’s effects until retrieving an antidote and jamming the needle into his leg.

Other Negative Elements

Nick and his daughter, Addy, go to therapy near the beginning of the film; he is oblivious to how his constant need for attention is causing her anxiety issues. Addy talks about her fear that her dad would reject her if she didn’t like the things he liked.

Nicolas Cage isn’t the first Hollywood actor to play himself in an offbeat movie. But there are few, if any, who have done it with such panache.

As odd and quirky as the trailer for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent may seem, the movie itself plays out as a fresh and well-constructed bit of entertainment. Nick Cage and company present a deft, meta-balancing act of engaging humor that’s both self-aggrandizing and self-deprecating at the same time.

And then this buddy action comedy (featuring a very well-paired Cage and Pedro Pascal) shifts gears in its latter chase scenes to deliver some almost surprisingly warm messages about being a good father, and the rewards of friendship and making wise family choices.

In light of all that, then, the fact that this comedy also packs some ugly baggage in its self-referential trunk is disappointing. Rampant boozing and drug-taking is winked at as a reveling hoot. And the language here is consistently raw and distinctly profane. That may be ho-hum stuff for any real or fabricated Hollywood star. But it’s not so easy to laugh off for anybody with the massive talent of self-preserving discernment.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Movie Review – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

June 6, 2022 by Robert Kojder

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , 2022.

Directed by Tom Gormican. Starring Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish, Lily Mo Sheen, Sharon Horgan, Jacob Scipio, Paco León, Joanna Bobin, Alessandra Mastronardi, Nicholas Wittman, Demi Moore. Mario Perez, and David Gordon Green.

Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, Nick Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones.

There is a version of Nicolas Cage for everyone in co-writer and director Tom Gormican’s (scribing alongside Kevin Etten) outrageously heartfelt The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent . The (inter)nationally treasured thunderbolt of charisma stars as a somewhat modified variation of his true self, struggling to come by blockbuster roles and with mounting financial debts to pay.

Here, the character is credited as Nick Cage and also wholly self-absorbed with keeping his career afloat to a degree where every interaction with his wife Olivia and freshly turned 16-year-old daughter Addy (played by Sharon Horgan and Lily Sheen, respectively) is centered on his glory days or longshot hopes of earning a big part and potentially making a grand Hollywood return (not that he went anywhere, as an excessively over-the-top de-aged, prime Nicolas Cage frequently reasserts to his midlife crisis self in some nutty hallucination sequences that continue to make good on cramming in every mode of the actor one could ask for).

Among the many laughs within this family dynamic is examining fractured generational bonds, one of the greatest ongoing trends in cinema simply because it doesn’t boil down to unrealistic, forced, and misguided “family above everyone else” bullshit. Nick Cage certainly tries as a father (at one point, Addy actually explains the saddest part regarding his failures is that he is always trying to have a meaningful connection with her) but falls into the pit of laying interests on too thick rather than as pressure-free suggestions not intended to mold her into a preferred image. It also allows Nicolas Cage, as an actor, to play into that spoiled A-lister archetype, always craving to be the center of attention with self-deprecating gusto that adds a welcome dose of grounded zaniness to celebrity lifestyle depiction.

Shattered by yet another rejection, Nick Cage reluctantly accepts an offer to entertain billionaire Javi Gutierrez (a terrific Pedro Pascal balancing humor and heart, similar to the movie itself) in Spain at a birthday party. Javi is a Nicolas Cage super fan who has also written a script he desperately wants his hero to star in. Admittedly, it does feel like there is a bit of a lost opportunity to touch on how damaging parasocial relationships can be and the entitlement certain sectors of fandom can feel and toxically wield whenever not getting their way. To be fair, that’s also not the kind of movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is aspiring to be, but there are kernels of that in Javi’s personality, so it does end up feeling like a road not fully explored.

The script has other plans for Javi’s character, as Nick Cage unknowingly crosses paths with two government agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, both undeniably amusing screen presences, although it feels as if they had more to do in an earlier cut that exists somewhere, presumably chopped down to keep the proceedings under two hours and prioritized on the core elements) declaring that Javi is a dangerous cartel runner and has kidnapped a politician’s daughter to influence an upcoming election in favor of a leader that won’t come down on his criminal activities. Subsequently, Nick Cage is essentially guilt-tripped into taking on an undercover espionage assignment (” what if that was your daughter that was kidnapped”) that sees The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent settle into a hangout buddy-paranoia comedy vibe and discussion on what type of movie they should write together, which turns into a tool used to ascertain information while viewers are somewhat pummeled over the head with an explanation of all the story subtext that shouldn’t be that hard for your average viewer to piece together in the first place.

There are small narrative shortcomings here and there, even if the ultimate message of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is still finally executed and smoothly paced from a refreshing angle, and the action is competently crafted (also with some too-good ridiculous usage of practical makeup effects for a reason I won’t spoil). It’s easy to imagine Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten, and Nicolas Cage having many of the same conversations as the characters do when it comes to conceiving this loving tribute to the Hollywood star that is just as much a freakout as some of his most batshit wild roles. Yes, there are many references to Nicolas Cage’s long-standing career (and even clips from earlier films), but the filmmakers avoid making that icon service the core identity of the movie. Bromance and father-daughter connections take center stage, with Nicolas Cage tapping into a plethora of livewire personas (ranging from a family man to a lunatic to a government agent to an action hero to flexing dramatic chops and more), sometimes simultaneously. Consider it Every Nicolas Cage Everywhere All at Once.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Movie Reviews

Review: 'the unbearable weight of massive talent' references nick cage's multitudes.

Bob Mondello

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Nicholas Cage plays a movie star named Nic Cage in the adventure comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The (United States, 2022)

The “hook” intended to lure in viewers to Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the marquee-topping selection of Nicolas Cage as “Nick Cage.” The film gets a lot of mileage (perhaps too much) out of this meta casting. More an affectionate homage than an acerbic satire, the movie offers Cage fans an abundance of Easter Eggs. The humor is uneven but rarely seriously off-key. Taken as a whole, the production feels like an instantly forgettable diversion that no more evinces unbearable weight than it does indefinite staying power. This is the kind of movie you see in the evening and will have forgotten about by the next morning.

There’s nothing unique about an actor playing a fictionalized version of himself/herself. (What this says about ego and Hollywood is a subject for elsewhere.) Often, however, it’s more in the nature of a cameo or supporting performance. (The best recent example might be Keanu Reeves in the indie rom-com Always Be My Maybe , where he was by far and away the best thing the otherwise mediocre movie had going for itself.) The underlying premise of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is that Nick Cage, movie star, is forced into the role of Nick Cage, action hero, when he accepts a job to appear at the birthday party of an uber-rich superfan. In detailing Nick’s shaky financial footing and diminished box office clout, the film pokes fun at the rumors that have dogged the actor in recent years (he has become known as someone who won’t turn down any role as long as there are enough zeroes on the left side of the decimal point).

How good is the movie? If the same production had been mounted with Cage playing a generic down-on-his-luck actor, viewers would have noted the “real life” similarities but that version of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent would have merited little more than a collective shrug. Although it’s true that the movie is more amusing than many action/comedies and doesn’t take the “plot” as seriously as some (focusing less on the criminal elements and more on the buddy-film aspects), the only thing special about the film is Cage playing a distorted version of Cage. The idea is more enticing than the actuality . The movie also has fun with a couple of non-Cage titles: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (identified by Nick as a favorite) and Paddington 2 (a surprise entry into Javi’s personal Top 3).

When initially approached about the project by the filmmakers, Cage was reluctant. He relented at just the right time. After spending years churning out direct-to-video title after direct-to-video title, Cage has again been getting good reviews for some of his recent projects. Because The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is so much better than 75% of what Cage has made during the past decade, a certain degree of overpraise is to be expected. It’s a painless diversion – no more, no less – that gets an injection of energy from the lead actor’s willingness to not take himself too seriously.

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The 10 Best Action Comedy Movies of the 2020s So Far, Ranked

Every laughter, everywhere, all at once.

The action and comedy genres are among the most accessible and thus beloved in the film industry. When the excitement of action-packed epics combines with the humor of comedies, the results are fantastic and have contributed to some of the most beloved blockbusters, such as the iconic Bad Boys franchise. Comedy serves as a good way to balance the violence and dark themes of the action genre, lightening the mood and providing viewers with a few chuckles. No doubt, it's a win-win situation.

Throughout the years, many action comedy movies have captured the attention of worldwide moviegoers — it's not difficult to grasp why, considering that their frequently gripping but humorous narratives appeal to the liking of different audience members. But which are some of the best regarding the most recent films in the genre? From Birds of Prey to Everything Everywhere All at Once , we rank and discuss what are the best action comedy movies of the 2020s .

10 'Birds of Prey' (2020)

Director: cathy yan.

Cathy Yan 's DCEU debut Birds of Prey provides audiences with one of the best versions of Margot Robbie 's Harley Quinn, who emancipates herself from Jared Leto 's Joker and seeks freedom after splitting with the character. In the meantime, Harley comes up with a new team including the superheroines Black Canary ( Jurnee Smollett ), Huntress ( Mary Elizabeth Winstead ), and Renee Montoya ( Rosie Perez ), to help save a young girl ( Ella Jay Basco ) from an evil crime lord ( Ewan McGregor ).

Strikingly colorful, action-packed, and anchored by an incredible cast, Yan's underrated DCEU installment is a love letter to women-centric action films , as well as a powerful meditation about self-empowerment. Birds of Prey may not be the cinematic universe's finest entry. However, it is a solid effort in the genre, with the stars it features absolutely nailing their roles. Robbie flawlessly brings to life a less sexualized, "female gaze" version of her treasured trademark character.

Birds of Prey

Watch on Tubi

9 'The Paper Tigers' (2020)

Director: bao tran.

Directed by Quoc Bao Tran , The Paper Tigers is a delightful martial arts action film that also throws comedy into the mix with great results. The entertaining revenge story follows three middle-aged men ( Alain Uy , Eon Yuan , and Mykel Shannon Jenkins ) who used to be Kung Fu prodigies and see themselves forced to join forces and set out on an adventure after their master is murdered.

Martial arts enthusiasts will probably find The Paper Tigers an appealing film. It also helps that it is likely to steal some chuckles from viewers, resulting in a great action comedy. With that being said, the Quoc Bao Tran film has proven to be among the most memorable from the 2020s so far . Even if a tad overlooked in the genre and not by any means groundbreaking, The Paper Tigers is worth watching for the comfort it brings and its fun narrative.

8 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' (2022)

Director: tom gormican.

Nicolas Cage stars as a fictionalized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent . The film depicts the struggles of an actor who has been passed over for several major film roles. Cage is forced to live up to his legend when he finds himself forced to accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan, played by Pedro Pascal , and is recruited by a CIA operative ( Tiffany Haddish ).

One of the best aspects of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the chemistry between the actors and its highly creative narrative. Crafted in the same vein as the surrealist Being John Malkovich , in which John Malkovich also plays himself, the hilarious Tom Gormican action comedy is a solid celebration of Nicolas Cage's career guaranteed to provide fans of the movie star with a great time.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Watch on Roku

7 'The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' (2022)

Director: james gunn.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a treat that provides Marvel fans with some of the most memorable holiday moments. The film sees the team ( Chris Pratt , Dave Bautista , Bradley Cooper , Pom Klementieff , and Vin Diesel ) reunite once more. This time, the Guardians engage in misadventures while attempting to find Peter Quill the perfect Christmas gift to cheer him up: his childhood hero, Kevin Bacon , who steals the show . Towards the end, Mantis makes a major revelation concerning her close bond with Peter.

James Gunn 's merry, cheerful Christmas special serves as the conclusion for MCU's Phase 4, which ultimately ends on a happy note and incites audiences to look forward to what's next. While it is far from being Marvel's best, the original and visually absorbing action comedy Holiday Special is a fun-loving, feel-good treat for fans of the popular superhero universe .

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Watch on Disney+

6 'The Suicide Squad' (2021)

The next James Gunn movie worthy of appreciation is The Suicide Squad , a stand-alone movie to Suicide Squad and a generally much better film than its predecessor. Apart from Robbie's Harley, Viola Davis 's Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman 's Rick Flag, it features some new faces and characters, including John Cena 's Peacemaker, Idris Elba 's Bloodshot, David Dastmalchian 's Polka-Dot Man, and Daniela Melchior 's Ratcatcher 2. In the film, the ex-cons are all dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese on an eventful mission.

Be it for its ensemble cast or the awesome action sequences, The Suicide Squad works as a major improvement from the 2016 film , which lacked proper pacing and benefited only from the movie stars it featured. It's an utterly fun and diverting film with clever lines and well-timed jokes that will provide anyone — likely those who aren't superhero fans, too — a great time in front of the screen.

The Suicide Squad

Watch on Max

5 'They Cloned Tyrone' (2023)

Director: juel taylor.

Juel Taylor 's bloody and successful directorial debut, the fun They Cloned Tyrone , throws the comedy, action, science fiction, and mystery genres into the mix in a tale of exploitation and endurance, illustrating a series of strange events that leads an unlikely trio ( John Boyega , Jamie Foxx , and Teyonah Parris ) to uncover a sinister government conspiracy.

Featuring a great cast and clever writing, the engaging Netflix film They Cloned Tyrone works as a celebration of the blaxploitation genre , whether that is for its grainy look or the retro soundtrack that takes audiences back to the 1970s. In the meantime, it also examines white privilege and bodily autonomy (particularly of black people). Taylor's first film cements him as a promising director, especially in the comedy action genre .

They Cloned Tyrone

Watch on Netflix

4 'Bullet Train' (2022)

Director: david leitch.

From the mind of one of the finest action filmmakers, Bullet Train is, as its title suggests, a rapidly moving film. It features a strong ensemble cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson , John Wick 's Hiroyuki Sanada , Brian Tyree Henry , and Joey King , with Brad Pitt in the lead role, and the story centers around the different quests of five assassins, all aboard a swiftly-moving bullet train, as they find out that their quests are seemingly interconnected.

In addition to its talented cast, which certainly does not disappoint, two of the most appealing aspects of David Leitch's genuinely enjoyable action comedy are its fast pacing and the action sequences . Bullet Train is a stimulating watch that greatly benefits from its stylish cinematography, memorable characters, and well-crafted adapted screenplay based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle written by Kōtarō Isaka .

Bullet Train

3 'riders of justice' (2020), director: anders thomas jensen.

Starring Hannibal 's Mads Mikkelsen in the lead role, Riders of Justice is a captivating Danish film following protagonist Markus, who goes home to his teenage daughter, Mathilde ( Andrea Heick Gadeberg ) after his wife dies in a train crash. Although it all appears to be a tragic accident, the fate of Markus's wife is put into a different perspective when a mathematics geek shows up.

Equally sad and funny, the character-driven Riders of Justice is a compelling and complex story about revenge that encompasses top-tier humor and impeccable acting performances from a gifted ensemble cast (Mikkelsen's non-English performance in particular is worth noting), with great chemistry between the characters serving as the cherry on top. The action scenes are also fantastic. The results are nothing short of brilliant: the underrated 21st-century action film Riders of Justice deserves a place among the best action comedies of the decade .

Riders of Justice

Watch on Hulu

2 'The Fall Guy' (2024)

In David Leitch's latest, Ryan Gosling plays a down-and-out stuntman named Colt Seavers who, after undergoing a life-changing, career-ending accident, is tasked with the mission of solving a strange conspiracy involving the missing star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) of his ex-girlfriend's ( Emily Blunt ) upcoming blockbuster film and saving him in the meantime.

On top of the incredible chemistry between Gosling and Blunt — who have partaken in 2023's "Barbenheimmer" cultural phenomenon, with Gosling starring in Barbie and Blunt landing a part in Oppenheimer — The Fall Guy provides viewers with one of the most remarkable Ryan Gosling comedic performances. This thoughtful love letter to the stunt industry blends the mystery, action, crime, and romance genres with unforgettable effects , proving to be one of the best crime comedies of recent times.

The Fall Guy

Watch on Theaters

1 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' (2022)

Directors: daniel kwan, daniel scheinert.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert 's Everything Everywhere All at Once has rightfully proven to be a fan-favorite among general audiences and critics alike. The innovative Best Picture winner focuses on a middle-aged Chinese immigrant — played by Michelle Yeoh in an Oscar-winning performance that made history at the Awards show — who is swept up into an intense, otherworldly adventure in which she can save existence.

The absurdist action comedy is a genre-bending odyssey of all the best parts of almost every movie category , something that could only result in an unforgettable viewing experience. Despite its goofy bits, Everything Everywhere All at Once is an existentialist feature that holds enormous meaning and explores delicate topics, such as generational trauma, the clash of different cultures, and complex mother-daughter relationships.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

NEXT: 10 Best Action Movies of the 21st Century, According to IMDb

3 best free movies on Tubi right now

The best Tubi movies streaming right now for the low cost of absolutely nothing!

Tubi on a tablet with headphones and popcorn nearby

Who says free can't be good? Ad-supported streaming service Tubi boasts thousands of films in its expansive library, but in order to get to the good stuff, viewers might find themselves scrolling through a lot of ... questionable titles.

However, if you can get past " Avalanche Sharks " and " Boonie Bears Forest Frenzy 9: Iron Pan Man ," there are some true cinematic gems on the platform as well as some of the most recognizable Oscar-winning films of all time. So if you're looking to stream some of the best cinema of all time for the low cost of nothing at all, here are a few of our picks for the best films on Tubi.

‘Paddington 2'

The film that a tearful Pedro Pascal said made him "want to be a better man" in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," "Paddington 2" is one of the best-reviewed films of all time, holding a near-perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes .

The wholesome film begins with Paddington on the hunt for a perfect gift for his Aunt Lucy's birthday. Though he cannot afford it, he finds a pop-up book at a nearby shop and works odd jobs to try and raise the money he needs to make the purchase. However, disaster strikes when the book is stolen, Paddington is wrongly accused of the crime and is sent to prison.

However, with the help of some crafty inmates as well as the Brown family, Paddington is able to clear his name, expose the real thief, and ultimately find the hidden treasure the book holds.

Though it didn't win any major awards, "Paddington 2" was nominated for several BAFTA awards including Outstanding British Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Hugh Grant.

Watch on Tubi

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‘Shoplifters'

Japanese drama film "Shoplifters" is a poignant film directed, written and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda, who was inspired by the question "What makes a family?"

The movie follows a group of impoverished people living in one house, who are technically unrelated, but live as a family, each contributing to the household in different ways. Among them are adult Osamu and young Shota, who have devised a clever way to shoplift by using hand signals.

While out gathering items, the pair take in a young girl named Yuri they find who they suspect has been a victim of abuse. Unfortunately, this sets a dangerous chain of events into motion, and as secrets come to light, the family risks being blown apart as they are forced to confront the consequences of their actions.

The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival, and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Film.

'Lady Bird'

When pulled off correctly, the comedy-drama is a beautiful thing. Lady Bird, from director Greta Gerwig, strikes the right balance between playfulness and sincerity. In this coming-of-age film, Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is about to graduate high school and has to square away her relationships with her parents, her friends and her religion before she starts college. That's really all there is to the story; there's no shocking twist or subversive premise. It's a story all about growing up, and how your friendships, family and interests can define you as a young adult. Ronan's spirited performance takes center stage, but Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's conflicted mother is also well worth watching. - KW

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Amanda Kondolojy is an entertainment journalist based in Florida with over 15 years of experience covering film, TV, theme parks and more. When not in front of a screen you can find her reading something at the beach (usually by Neil Gaiman, Grady Hendrix or Brandon Sanderson) or dancing around the kitchen to her favorite showtunes.

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IMAGES

Nicolas Cage movie trailer breaks the internet: Release date and more
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). Movie Reviews
Nicolas Cage Gets Meta in First Trailer for The Unbearable Weight of
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" (2022) Review: The R-Rated
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

COMMENTS

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent movie review (2022)
In "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" he finds the perfect synthesis of the two, and in turn delivers one of the most complex, yet crowd-pleasing performances of his career. This review was filed from the SXSW Film Festival. The film opens on April 22nd. Crime.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Nick Cage in the action-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Movie Review
Really funny, very enjoyable, but quite profane. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is an action/comedy film starring Nicolas Cage as… himself, well, sort of. Keep in mind, although this site says I'm an adult, I am only 18; therefore my mindset will likely have more in common with teen reviews. The bromance between the lead characters ...
'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Review: Being Nicolas Cage
In "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Nicolas Cage plays a wrung-out actor yearning for a role worthy of his self-regard. This avatar looks and sounds like the real deal. Katalin ...
'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Review: Nicolas Cage in a
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is at once a gently preposterous buddy movie; a poker-faced crime thriller in which Nic is coerced, by a couple of CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 20, 2023. THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT is a wonderfully warm, funny, and touching comedy that is also very meta about the craft of acting, the ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is in theaters on April 22, 2022. Having a deep and abiding love for the vast filmography of Nicolas Cage is not an outright requirement for enjoying The ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: Directed by Tom Gormican. With Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan. Moviestar Nick Cage is channeling his iconic characters as he's caught between a superfan and a CIA agent.
'Unbearable Weight' review: Nicolas Cage, meta movie star
By Katie Walsh. April 20, 2022 3:34 PM PT. In "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Nicolas Cage is back — not that he ever went away. That's one of the oft-repeated observations made ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Nicholas Cage movie, about Nicholas Cage and his fight between his artistic aspirations and his chasing of the big bucks as a movie star. In other words there's lots of over acting, lots of action and it's very very clever and funny. A wonderful movie and well worth seeing . 8/10.
'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Review: Nic Cage's Meta-Com
March 13, 2022 10:58am. 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Courtesy of Katalin Vermes. At what point did Nicolas Cage become not just an actor or movie star but an entire concept of big ...
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Review
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Review. Stuck in a slow career decline, actor Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage) decides to retire — but not before banking $1 million for appearing at the birthday ...
Review: Nicolas Cage's 'Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent'
Movie review: In 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,' Nicolas Cage plays himself as a has-been actor who is invited by a superfan arms dealer (Pedro Pascal) to Mallorca and lands right ...
'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Review: Nicolas Cage Rules
Editor's note: This review was originally published at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. Lionsgate releases the film in theaters on Friday, April 22. Depending on your taste, the idea of Nicolas Cage ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 52 Critic Reviews. 68. User Score Generally Favorable Based on 187 User Ratings. 7.3. My Score. Hover and click to give a rating. Add My Review.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review: Nicolas Cage plays
Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent". Karen Ballard/Lionsgate. Javi actually seems, beneath his fan-boy fervor and Gucci loafers, like a pretty nice guy.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review - Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Cage ... (to quote a relevant movie title) ... The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is released on 22 April in cinemas.
'Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent': Welcome to Nic Cage's Metaverse
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is not unbearable by any means. It just should have been so much better. It just should have been so much better. A version of this review ran as part of ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Nicolas Cage isn't the first Hollywood actor to play himself in an offbeat movie. But there are few, if any, who have done it with such panache. As odd and quirky as the trailer for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent may seem, the movie itself plays out as a fresh and well-constructed bit of entertainment. Nick Cage and company present a ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, 2022. Directed by Tom Gormican. Starring Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish, Lily Mo Sheen, Sharon Horgan ...
Review: 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' references Nick ...
Review: 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' references Nick Cage's multitudes With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Nicholas Cage plays a movie star named Nic Cage in the adventure comedy The ...
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 309 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Smart, funny, and wildly creative, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent presents Nicolas Cage in peak gonzo form - and he's matched by Pedro Pascal's scene-stealing performance."
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The
A movie review by James Berardinelli. The "hook" intended to lure in viewers to Tom Gormican's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the marquee-topping selection of Nicolas Cage as "Nick Cage.". The film gets a lot of mileage (perhaps too much) out of this meta casting. More an affectionate homage than an acerbic satire, the ...
10 Best Action Comedy Movies of the 2020s So Far, Ranked
Nicolas Cage stars as a fictionalized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.The film depicts the struggles of an actor who has been passed over for several major film roles ...
Damijan Verdonik
459K likes, 8,600 comments - damijan.verdonik on July 6, 2023: "Tag that friend in the comments 欄 : The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) Your thoughts on this movie⁉️樂 Follow: ...
3 best free movies on Tubi right now
The film that a tearful Pedro Pascal said made him "want to be a better man" in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," "Paddington 2" is one of the best-reviewed films of all time, holding a ...

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‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Review: Nicolas Cage in a Meta Action Comedy That’s a Witty Meditation on Nicolas Cage

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