Unbearable weight of massive Talent review

[Westside Steve]

The unbearable weight of massive Talent

Lionsgate

R.           104 min

I'm not sure that it’s happens frequently enough to call it a specific genre but every once in a while, a silly but fake biographical film pops up about a fairly well-known celebrity. You might remember CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, a Chuck Barris, yes, the gong show guy, action adventure (George Clooney's directorial debut) or 1999 BEING JOHN MALKOVICH.

In this one Nicolas Cage plays himself as a washed-up actor down to his last few dollars. His family is falling apart he's been turned down for a role he believes will put him back on top, and just to add insult to injury has just been kicked out of his apartment. Just for fun I looked up the real Nick Cage and while he has certainly squandered a great deal of the wealth has earned, he's only down to his last 25 million bucks. He reluctantly agrees to accept a crazy but lucrative offer to be a guest of a super rich South American fan, Javi (Pedro Pascal) suspected by the FBI to be an international weapons dealer. As it turns out Javi, regardless of anything else he might or might not be involved with, has written a screenplay and it is his most sincere wish that his idol, Cage, would agree to perform it.

So, from here on Cage and Javi form a bond, a mutual respect even though the audience never knows if the action sequences, and there are quite a few; gun battles chase scenes kidnapping fighting with the crime cartel thugs, are actually happening or are just actualization of parts of Javi’s script the two men are discussing. Does that tend to be a little confusing? No Doubt. But don't forget this movie isn't really meant to make sense and it probably wouldn't be as much fun if it did. It's nonsense but don't worry, it's very entertaining nonsense and that's the point. Both these actors are charismatic and while I don't think Cage is a particularly great actor he is certainly a bona fide movie star. On top of that I've never heard many stories about him being anything less than a nice guy so if you are looking for a little left of center entertainment,

I recommend this one.

B-

WSS