Back in the Middle Ages, when Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew broke through with eye-catching performances in Rumble Fish and Birdy, futurologists would have struggled to imagine a 21st century meta-Nic Cage flick. He was one of the era’s most promising actors. Yes, he was a bit intense. Subtlety was not his USP. But was there really a strong enough “persona” to keep any tongue in cheek for close to two hours?
Nobody is asking that question now. The issue is whether Cage has already done the job for us. Recent films such as Prisoners of the Ghostland and Willy’s Wonderland rely so heavily on an oven-ready identity – scenery-masticating rock‘n’roll avenger – that any explicit mounting within inverted commas feels unnecessary.
Tom Gormican's archly titled The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent does a decent job of staging a counter-argument. If the title doesn't make its approach clear, the addition of a rogue "k" in the poster – "Nicolas Cage is Nick Cage"– leaves us in no further doubt. This version of Cage, dogged by debt, constantly told he is working too hard, moves in a heightened version of an already unreal Hollywood. We begin with him running after David Gordon Green, the busy director of Boston-bombing drama Stronger, and insisting on auditioning there and then with a ropey Massachusetts accent. His estranged wife (Sharon Horgan) is exhausted with him. He bores his daughter (Lily Sheen) by forcing her to watch The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Cage (the actor, not the character) gives good sport like a celebrity at one of those peculiar comic "roasts" Americans so enjoy.
For much of the film's final third we are watching a fairly straight take on a mid-level Cage thriller from his high period
The film's Cage still has fans. Pedro Pascal plays Javi Gutierrez, a billionaire who lures our hero to Spain for his birthday. He soaks up praise, tours a museum devoted to his own memorabilia, and otherwise rides the solipsistic wave towards a coming catastrophe. It transpires that Javi is an arms dealer and Nic(k) will need to take on his fictional persona to save the day.
If anything, The Unbearable Weight is not quite tricksy enough. Cage does play a parallel version of himself – corresponding most closely to his character in Wild at Heart – who turns up to offer the, um, real Nic(k) bad advice, but, if you’ve got this far into the synopsis, you almost certainly already guessed that. For much of the film’s final third we are watching a fairly straight take on a mid-level Cage thriller from his high period. It’s not as if those films were short on jokes. Horgan’s more astringent, less mannered performance does much to liven up the comedy, but one ends up longing for a bit more invention, a bit more surrealism, a bit more experimentation. Being a damn good sport only gets you so far.
Opens on April 22nd
