Fellman's Movie Reviews

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a 2022 action comedy starring Nicolas Cage with a supporting cast of Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgon, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish. The movie revolves around Nick Cage having a crisis with his career and his family at the same time, when his agent gets him a job on an island with a man who turns out to be a huge fan of his. He ends up writing a script with him, and the movie becomes a visual of the script. It’s actually pretty meta in the way that it’s done.  

I really liked the way this movie is done. It stars out with Cage kind of looking like this washed-up actor. Then, he goes to his daughter’s birthday party, and he’s kind of awkward. Then he sort of deteriorates through the movie. And then it picks up when he starts writing the script, but you don’t know they’re writing the script yet. It’s really well done with the way that the writers released just a little bit of information at a time. Making it even more meta as the movie goes on. Adding little easter eggs from throughout Cage’s career into the movie makes it kind of fun as well. 

Personally, I’ve never been that big of a Nick Cage fan. I always thought he just got into acting because of his name. For those that don’t know, his uncle is Francis Ford Coppola. And nepotism is how 75% of actors get started in Hollywood. Nobody just goes out there and “makes it”. It doesn’t work like that. You have to “know somebody”. And usually, that somebody is already in the business, so they can introduce you to somebody else. If Nick Cage were to be judged on his acting credence alone, I don’t think he would have become the big movie star that he did based on his earlier work.  

But this review isn’t about ragging on Nick Cage. I think this movie was actually pretty good. There were a lot of good scenes that I found really funny, and the way that Nick and Pedro Pascal worked together really made it seem like they were friends like they were in the movie. The scene where they were on acid and trying to climb over the wall had me busting up laughing. And then Pedro Pascal shows up, walking around the side of the building, and the wall is only like 10 feet high. It was one of the funniest scenes ever.  

And the way the movie turns into this action flick, and then it ends up being the script that Nick and Pedro were writing is very well done. It’s pretty seamless. If you’re not paying attention, you don’t notice the switchover from when it goes from the beginning of the movie to when it starts being the script that they’re writing, being the movie that you’re watching. It’s very well done. 

So, yeah. Go and see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. It’s not only very well written, but there’s some genuinely excellent acting from everyone involved. Including Nick Cage. And it’s the kind of movie that you could watch over again and be entertained by even though you know what’s coming next. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…