A hoot: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent reviewed

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stars Nicolas Cage playing a version of Nicolas Cage, in a parody of Nicolas Cage and the many, many films of Nicolas Cage. This couldn’t, you will have already surmised, be more Nicolas Cage, and if you are wondering how much Nicolas Cage is too much Nicolas Cage you could say any amount of Nicolas Cage is always too much Nicolas Cage. But that’s exactly what this film is playing with and it’s a hoot.

It is directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the film with Kevin Etten, and Nicolas Cage plays ‘Nick Cage’, a Hollywood movie star famed for his unique, unhinged intensity – why does that sound familiar? – who has an ex-wife (a wry Sharon Horgan), a teenage daughter with whom he struggles to connect and a career that’s currently in the doldrums. Once a box-office king, he’s now known less for the quality of his films and more for their sheer volume. (The Nicolas Cage that is actually Nicolas Cage has made around 122, it is estimated.) It infuriates him always being asked: why so many? Is a plumber ever asked why he’s installed so many bathrooms? But he’s been fast and loose with money, can’t pay his hotel bill, and while he is desperate for a comeback – ‘not that I’ve been anywhere’ – there aren’t any offers on the table. Apart from one: a million dollars to attend the birthday party of a billionaire superfan on a Spanish island. What am I, he asks, ‘a trained seal?’ It’s depressing. It’s degrading. When do I go?

So it’s off to a sun-drenched private villa in Mallorca where his host, Javi (Pedro Pascal), takes fanship to the highest level, which is awkward enough, but, wouldn’t you know it, he has also written a screenplay he’d love Nick to read.