Penniless and waiting for the big role that could revive his career, Nick Cage agrees to go to a remote island to celebrate the birthday of a billionaire of whom he is the absolute idol. He will have to live up to his own legend with a guy who, in fact, is a serious criminal.
Posted yesterday at 9:30 a.m.
In this second feature film by Tom Gormican (That Awkward Moment), Nicolas Cage, named Nick Cage in the story, is presented as a narcissistic being, unable to care about anyone but himself, and so in debt that he is desperate to land a role that would have all the signs of a great comeback. He is also not afraid to cover himself with ridicule in passing, as during this unsolicited test with the director David Gordon Green, completely stunned and frightened.
In other words, the craftsmen of this satirical comedy played the card of self-mockery thoroughly, going so far as to reveal a younger version of the actor in front of himself. And here we go for the mise en abyme on an Oscar-winning movie star, whose legend has however also been nourished by action films and B series.
Once this postulate is posed, the craftsmen of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent don’t seem to know what to do with this canon starting point, however. The story then falls into the conventions of action comedy, with the difference that the real Nick Cage, having accepted the invitation of a billionaire for whom he is the idol, must this time reproduce what he does at the cinema at the request of the CIA. A bit like in the recent The Lost Citythe world of entertainment is confronted with the reality of “real” life, but the satirical potential of the situation could certainly have been better exploited.
Fortunately, Pedro Pascal, in the role of the billionaire with shady business, and Nicolas Cage form an excellent tandem. If this comedy is still looked at with pleasure, despite its shortcomings, it is mainly thanks to them.
Indoors
satirical comedy
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (VF: A talent in solid gold)
Tom Gormican
With Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish
1:45