Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage) has just been turned down for a role of a lifetime and owes the hotel he has been staying at $600,000. In a moment of weakness he agrees to attend the birthday party of super fan Javi (Pedro Pascal) for the sum of $1 million. Unfortunately it turns out that Javi is currently under surveillance by the CIA and they want Nick to help them. 

I have to admit to going into The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent with expectations that may have been too large. After all, Nicolas Cage is the sort of actor that has a mythic allure. His acting career has amassed over one hundred credits according to IMDB with films covering every genre possible. He has an academy award for best actor thanks to an amazing performance in Leaving Las Vegas, has played at least four different superheroes and has worked with critically acclaimed directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola (his uncle), The Coen Brothers, David Lynch and Brian De Palma to name a few. So the idea of a film where Nicolas Cage plays a hyper stylised version of himself sounded too good to be true. The end result is mixed though with everything that does not relate to the crazy Nick Cage facet of the story all feeling a little flat in comparison. 

The plot involves Nick Cage forming a bromance with Javi as they bond over a shared love of film. When CIA agents played by Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz ruin his fun by pointing out that Javi is a drug dealer he has to find a way to spend more time with him to assist them with their case. The result is a rather meta attempt at them writing a script about two guys who become friends. The issue is that it’s a little too ‘talky’ and requires them to give it a hook. Art imitating life? 

Let’s be clear, the Nick Cage stuff is genius. Especially when Nick speaks to ‘Nicky’, a younger version of himself who wants them to be a film star and not an actor. Nicky is a crazy de-aged version of the star from his Wild At Heart / Red Rock West era and is suitably nuts. There are also many references to his back catalogue and direct reference to the vast quantity of films the actor has made in recent years to pay off debt. 

The other parts of the story it is wrapped in are just not as interesting and pale in comparison to Cage’s performance. Perhaps this is an artistic microcosm of those recent films where Cage is giving a far more interesting performance than the vehicle he is in? Or perhaps it just can not live up to the star himself. 

Outside of the genius of Cage both Pedro Pascal and Sharon Horgan, as Cage’s ex-wife do live up to the material and both deliver really funny characters. 

I would still highly recommend it to anyone with a passing interest or enjoyment of Nicolas Cage movies though.