Film Review: The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent
Release date
#whatonwhatsgood Express Review by: Jovin Tardif
Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a fun movie. Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself...Nick Cage. Nick Cage in the film is thinking about ending his career. However, agent Richard Fink (Neil Patrick Harris) tells him about a million-dollar gig. All Nick has to do is meet Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal).Cage's life is a bit in shambles. He has an ex-wife Olivia (Sharon Horgan) and a daughter Addy (Lily Sheen) who doesn't really like his company lately. At first, Cage is hesitant to meet Javi but eventually, he accepts.Nick Cage at first isn't a fan of this arrangement but eventually, he warms up to Gutierrez. They discuss films (particularly The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Paddington 2).But the question is who is Javi and why are CIA agents Vivian (Tiffany Haddish) and Martin Etten (Ike Barinholtz) chasing him? Is Javi a good or bad guy or just a guy who wants to write a screenplay for Cage?Some funny stuff in this movie. I think you will really enjoy this one.Some of the films discussed in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent include Face/Off, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Leaving Las Vegas, and Mandy.
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent NY Premiere 4/10/2022
Kevin Etten - Co-Writer
"There's a moment at the end of the movie where we realize we're watching Nick play himself in a movie about himself, and in the movie, he gets a standing ovation, and then at the end of our film in Austin, everyone there gave a big standing ovation. It was just like the universe is ending in on itself here."
Kristin Burr - Producer
"It had been set up at Lionsgate. They were looking for someone to join the team. They met with a bunch of people, and luckily we clicked. I was a huge Nick Cage fan as I feel like everyone really is. I remember in high school, I watched Raising Arizona on cable because I had mono. I think I watched it like 10 times that week.
My favorite part of the movie is the bonding between Nick and Pedro because it's so genuine. I think they actually really loved each other. "
Lily Sheen - "Addy"
"Leaving Las Vegas and Pig are my favorite movies with Nicholas Cage.
This is like a celebration of his career. It just feels good to be able to applaud this man. He really deserves it. He has a fantastic successful resume. He is like a genius."
Mark Isham - Composer
"We went with a spaghetti Western inspiration because he's a larger-than-life. He's always been larger than life. He's larger than larger than life. We went with the Tremolo guitars and the big-time Western approach. Oh my goodness, there's a scene towards the end when Javi, his best friend has a revelation. That's my personal favorite."
Mike Nilon - Producer
"We were sent the script about 2 plus years ago. It was super scary for him, and for me because we didn't really know how it would turn out. We didn't want it to get to be kind of like a sketch, or anything like that. But Tom and the director, Tom Gorman and Kevin Edner are super talented. They did a great job, both developing the script and then doing the movie.
I love what we call the high scene and the wall scene. Those are both really funny."
Neil Patrick Harris - "Richard"
"He's wildly prepared. He's read the script hundreds of times, he said, which I don't think is a lie.
We were mostly naked with each other all the time...which is weird but you know there are worse people to be naked with. He was covering all his tattoos. I guess Nick cage in the movie doesn't have the tattoos that Nicholas Cage the actor in real life has. So he was covered in body makeup, so I couldn't lick him.
I imagined him just from his movies, being more chaotic...sort of all over the place...but he was focused, centered, and a great conversationalist."
Nicolas Cage - "Nick Cage"
"I'm so happy to be back in the cinema with other folks watching a movie. When I saw it in South by Southwest, we were all laughing so much. It felt so good. There was electricity in the audience. I hope it happens again tonight. I do recommend seeing this one at the cinema because it's that communal feeling that I've been missing for so long.
You couldn't ask for a nicer man than Pedro Pascal to work with. Not only is it a nice man, but he's also a great actor and he brought so much to this. It was really a pleasure. We had a lot of laughs off-camera, talked a lot about filmmaking, and we shared our personal recommendations. So when the camera set action, we just kept our conversation going.
We can all use a laugh right now. Comedy is king. This movie is hilarious, and I think people are going to laugh a lot."
Paco Leon - "Lucas"
"Comedy is totally different...completely different. I had to do many sequences acting as a bad guy. I never acted like a bad guy before...and I never did it in English with Nicolas Cage."
Pedro Pascal - "Javi"
"It was incredible. It was the first movie at South by Southwest since the pandemic started. The energy that night was overwhelming...like a rock concert. It was really emotional for everybody, I had the best time.
I grew up watching Nicholas cage movies. I really did, and probably know more about Nicholas Cage than the guys that wrote the movie. I think there were even some instances where I knew more about a movie Nick made than he did.
I had a poster of Raising Arizona in my room...among many others.
I'm really in love with his alter ego. If you haven't seen the movie, there's more than one Nic."
Tom Gormican - Director, Co-Writer
"The crazy thing is...the more people we talked to people about the script, the more people revealed to us that they were also gigantic Nicholas Cage fans."
SXSW Interviews 3/11/2022
Jacob Scipio discusses Tom and Kevin and meeting Nicholas Cage
"Tom and Kevin are incredible. They're watching the playback...constantly throwing you curve balls, and asking you to deliver it in different ways. They're such a great team. They complement each other.
I idolize Nick. When I finally got to meet him he didn't disappoint. He's kind, intelligent, generous, and such a pro. A lot of people don't know but he preps so hard. Probably the hardest out of anybody that I've had the privilege to work with. He's a continuous student of film and the filmmaking process."
Kevin Etten discusses 'The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent'
"Tom and I had worked on a show together. The show ended, and he said, 'I have an idea of Nick Cage playing Nick Cage.' and I was like 'I'm in. Let's do it.'"
Lily Sheen discusses her character Addy in 'The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent' and working with Nick Cage
"She's very relatable to me. She's young and she has these parents that she doesn't really understand. They don't really understand her. It's such a like pinnacle/crucial age being 16. It's so specific because you are changing a lot. You also kind of already know who you are and feel very protective of that. Nick sort of openly disapproves of the fact that she's not as knowledgeable about all the things that he knows about. I always find it annoying when adults kind of say "you haven't heard of Led Zeppelin...you haven't heard of Van Halen?" Why? I don't care? I'm 16. I care about a lot of other stuff. She's very sensitive. I wanted to show that from the script what read to me like she has all this anger. She is being looked over and neglected by her dad but at the same time, there's like all this love. She just wants him to love her for who she is, instead of being forced to become this like mini Nick Cage.
I loved working with Nick. He's a fantastic worker. He's super caring, patient, professional, and very respectful. It was so rewarding. He knows exactly what he wants to do. He knows all his lines and he's on set ready to work."
Nicolas Cage discusses the script and working with Pedro Pascal
"I read the script, and I thought the first act really terrified me. But by the time we got to act 2 and 3 in the script I was like, he's really taking us on an adventure that is quite exciting.
I called Tom Gormican in this production, 'the mind'. It was like a fantasy of Tom Gormican's interpretation of my life. It's completely fictional. It is not me. There are some elements that are truthful, but it is fictionalized.
I really enjoyed working with Pedro. You couldn't work with a nicer man. I thought he brought something quite amusing to the character. Pedro as Javi has a unique sense of humor."
Pedro Pascal discusses his character Javi in 'The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent'
"Javi is an aspiring artist. He's a Nicholas Cage superfan. I would never have imagined that I would ever actually meet one of my heroes."
Tom Gormican discusses Nicholas Cage and Pedro Pascal in 'The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent'
"There was no movie without Nicholas Cage being on board, that's for sure.
Then it's about finding the correct Javi. When we met Pedro Pascal he came, and he said he hasn't really done comedy before, but he was like he's a huge Nicholas Cage fan. The characters that he's played in the past seem to be the sort of macho/action-driven characters. They're real men. Seeing him sort of be a giant superfan, and sweetly talk about what Nick has meant to him, started to really solidify for us."
Press Notes 3/10/2022
Tom Gormican discusses The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
“Nicolas Cage is unbelievably talented and can do any genre. You’ve seen him in romantic comedies like Moonstruck, comedies like The Family Man, avant-garde films like Mandy and Wild at Heart, and even big tentpole franchise movies like Con Air, Face/Off, and National Treasure. There are very few actors that can do every genre equally well, who can switch from comedy to drama – sometimes within the same project – and that’s fascinating to me.”
“Nick has become something that transcends being an actor. He’s become a cultural figure. As culture gets stranger and stranger and fashion choices get more outlandish, you can trace like a direct line back to the patron saint of strangeness, Nicolas Cage. Just seeing his face makes people happy. That’s really interesting and made me want to dig in further and find out who he actually is.”
Nicholas Cage discusses Tom Gormican
“I call Tom ‘The Mind,’ because the film really is his fantasy, culled from perceptions in the media and on the internet, as well as blips in my personal life that have gone public. It’s mixed with knowledge of interviews I’ve done and things that have always interested me and drew me down this path. Essentially, the film is an imagination based on Tom’s interpretation of what my life might be like.”
“I had no interest in playing myself in a movie. But then I received a very nice letter from Tom, and I read his script. The first act really terrified me, and by the time I got to acts two and three, I thought, Tom, is taking us on an adventure that is really quite exciting.”
“This is Tom’s invented version of Nick Cage – a neurotic, high-anxiety version of Nick Cage. This film is a real head trip for me.”
Pedro Pascal discusses Javi
“What brings Nick and Javi together is their love of storytelling. It’s the connecting fabric for them. Ultimately, this is a story about friendship and adventure, around a character we’ve all grown to love.”
“I think Nick’s screen persona is everything that Javi doesn’t dare to be. Javi is fearful of many things, so he lives his life vicariously through Nick’s bold performances. Nick’s visit inspires Javi to take risks in his own life.”
Nicolas Cage movies
Some of Nicholas Cage's movies include Valley Girl (1983), Racing with the Moon (1984), Birdy (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987), Vampire's Kiss (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Red Rock West (1993), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Con Air (1997), City of Angels (1998), National Treasure 1 and 2 (2004, 2007) and Lord of War (2005).
Social Media
#MassiveTalent
Genre
Comedy, Action
Directed by
Tom Gormican
Written by
Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten
Produced by
Kevin Etten, Mike Nilon, Nicolas Cage, Kristin Burr, and Kevin Turen
Executive Producers
Samson Mücke and Kevin Etten
Starring
Nicolas Cage as Nicolas "Nick" Cage
Pedro Pascal as Javi Gutierrez
Sharon Horgan as Olivia
Lily Sheen as Addy Cage
Tiffany Haddish as Vivian
Ike Barinholtz as Martin
Jacob Scipio as Carlos
Neil Patrick Harris as Richard Fink
Alessandra Mastronardi as Gabriella
Paco León as Lucas Gutierrez
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