The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a fictionalised version of himself, along with a supporting cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish. Filming began in the many cities including Croatia on October 5, 2020. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2022, and was released in the United States on April  22, 2022, by Lionsgate. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances and chemistry of Cage and Pascal. Plot. Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is struggling with his career after being passed over for several major film roles and is constantly pestered and tormented by "Nicky", who appears to him as his younger (and more successful) self. His relationship with his ex-wife Olivia and daughter Addy is also marred by years of emotional neglect. Following an embarrassing and humiliating event at Addy's birthday party and losing a key film role, Cage plans to retire from acting . He decides to accept a vague offer of $1 million from his agent Richard Fink that involves going to Majorca to meet billionaire playboy Javi Gutierrez and to be the guest of honor at his birthday. Upon meeting Javi, Cage is initially annoyed by his neediness and insistence that they create an improvisational movie based on a script he wrote, but is soon inspired by Javi's determination, and the two of them quickly bond over their surprisingly shared love of films such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Paddington 2" (the latter of which Cage watches for  the first time with Javi). Soon after, Cage is confronted by CIA agents Vivian and Martin. They suspect that Javi, who they claim made his fortune through arms dealing, is behind the kidnapping of Maria, the daughter of an anti-crime politician, with the hope that he will drop out of an upcoming election. Despite his insistence otherwise, Cage decides to help the CIA with the mission. After successfully rigging the cameras in Javi's compound, Cage attends a party where he announces his collaboration with Javi on a new movie, as an excuse to stay on the compound long  enough to find Maria. After a misadventure involving LSD, Cage discovers that Javi keeps a shrine room dedicated to all of his movies, including a wax figure of his character Castor Troy from the film "Face/Off", complete with identical golden guns. Cage finds it difficult to betray Javi, but Vivian convinces him to work the kidnapping into their script so that he could potentially reveal where Maria is. Cage explains his new idea to Javi, who believes that Cage is creatively bankrupt, and possibly has issues he needs to work out. Javi brings Olivia and Addy to his villa  from Los Angeles; they are frightened and angered over what is happening. Cage tries to make amends with them, but they reject his appeal and accuse him of prioritizing his film career over his family. Javi privately goes to meet with his cousin Lucas, who is revealed to be the true arms dealer and the one who kidnapped Maria. Lucas warns him that Cage is working with the CIA and pressures him to kill Cage, or else Lucas will kill Javi. Cage begins to rethink his friendship. Cage and Javi have a stand-off with each other, but neither can  bring themselves to kill the other. Lucas sends his men after both of them, and they race back to the house to discover that Addy has been kidnapped. Cage takes Javi, Olivia and Javi's assistant Gabriela to the CIA safe house, only for the house to have been compromised; Martin has been killed, while Vivian sacrifices herself to kill Lucas's men before they can ambush the group. With Javi's help, Cage and Olivia pose as a reclusive criminal couple to get close to Lucas. They manage to locate Addy and Maria but are found out. However, Cage , Addy, Maria and Olivia escape while Javi and Gabriela stay behind to distract Lucas. Cage, Addy, Olivia and Maria race to the American embassy with Lucas still in pursuit. Upon arrival, Lucas holds Cage at gunpoint, but Addy tosses him a knife which Cage uses to take him outtransitioning into the movie that Cage and Javi completed, presumably based on their adventure. Cage is applauded for his new film and congratulates Javi before going home with his family to watch "Paddington 2", now with a better relationship. Production. In "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent", actor Nicolas Cage plays a  fictionalised version of himself who he said bears little resemblance to his real offscreen personality. Cage originally turned down the role "three or four times" but changed his mind after writer-director Tom Gormican wrote him a personal letter. On November 15, 2019, Lionsgate acquired the production rights. In August 2020, Pedro Pascal entered negotations to star. In September 2020, Sharon Horgan and Tiffany Haddish joined the cast, with Lily Sheen being added in October. In November 2020, Neil Patrick Harris joined the cast of the film. Principal photography began on October 5 in areas around Croatia, including the city  of Dubrovnik. Mark Isham composed the musical score. Release. In the United States, the film was theatrically released on April 22, 2022. In New Zealand, it was released on 17 April. It was originally set to be released on March 19, 2021. It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival on March 12, 2022. Reception. Box office. , "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" has grossed $13.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $2.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $16 million. In United States and Canada, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive  Talent" was released alongside "The Bad Guys" and "The Northman", and was projected to gross $5–10 million from 3,036 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including $835,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $7.1 million, finishing fifth at the box office. "Deadline Hollywood" noted that "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" and "The Northman" were targeting the same demographic, which impacted their debuts. "Deadline" also mentioned the film's low awareness level at the time of its release and Cage's absence on social  media as reasons the film did not perform better. Men made up 59% of the audience during its opening, with those in the age range of 18–34 comprising 57% of ticket sales. Critical response. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 82% positive score, with 66% saying they would definitely recommend it.