The new Nicolas Cage movie, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’, was recently released on the 22nd of April, 2022. Directed by Tom Gornican, this film is a must-see for fans of action, comedy and Nicolas Cage. The movie is kept short and sweet at one hour and 46 minutes of runtime. If you plan on seeing the movie at any time in the near future, be careful, as we have spoilers for the movie coming up. 

The movie begins with scenes of Nicolas Cage, played by Nicolas Cage, having bad luck in his professional career and his at-home life. He doesn’t get his sought-after role, and alienates his daughter with his… well, Nicolas Cage behavior. Aftwards, he decides to quit acting. When he is offered one million dollars to come to a wealthy farmer’s island, he is forced to accept to pay off his debts. As Cage arrives, he discovers that the olive farmer is a massive fan of his movies. They become fast friends, as the farmer, Javi (played by Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal), convinces Nic to come back to acting. However, their friendship takes a turn when Cage is contacted by agents of the CIA, who tell him that Javi is actually the leader of a notorious arms cartel that has kidnapped the daughter of the President of Spain. Cage decides to betray Javi and help the CIA get information about him. To stay on the island to spy, Nic tells Javi that he wants to work on a screenplay together, and they begin working. 

Later, Javi notices that Cage’s troubles with his family are leaking into his work, so he brings Nic’s family to the island for lunch. Nic learns about how his daughter feels about his work. Suddenly, Nic and Javi’s blooming bromance is cut short by the appearance of Javi’s cousin, Lucas. It is revealed that Lucas has been pulling the strings of the arms cartel, and knows about Nic’s spying. He tells Javi that he must kill Nic or be killed by the cartel. Meanwhile, Nic is contacted by the CIA agents, who tell him that he has to kill Javi to stop the cartel from taking over Spain. The conflicted heroes drive to the place where they first met and enter a standoff. However, they can’t kill each other, but are ambushed by cartel forces. They flee together and return to the compound, where it is discovered that Nic’s daughter has been kidnapped too. They leave the compound and make it to Javi’s safe house, where Nic decides that he has to save his daughter.

With use of his wife’s makeup skills, Nic infiltrates the main cartel compound and makes it to where the two kidnapped girls are. He takes out the guards and holds Lucas hostage, allowing his family to escape. When Nic is taken down and held at gunpoint by Lucas, Javi sneaks up and stabs Lucas, allowing Nic to make a break for it. They drive out of the compound, but are chased by cartel forces. Javi gets out of the car and buys Nic time, saying that he will never have a life if he doesn’t stand up to his cousin. After a firefight, Javi goes down after being shot in the shoulder. In a plaza in Spain, Nic’s final confrontation with Lucas happens. He tricks Lucas and takes him down, leaving him for the police. By saving his family, he gains respect in the eyes of his daughter and fixes their relationship.

The film cuts to the inside of a movie theater, where it is revealed that Nic and Javi made their experience into a popular movie, called ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’. Nic lets Javi receive the awards, going home for time with his family, and the movie ends.

This has been my favorite movie of the year so far. It was hilarious, and the dialogue never felt awkward, which is impressive for a comedy movie. Nicolas Cage is a great actor, and I’ll stand by that opinion until I die, despite what anybody thinks. Pedro Pascal is also great, as most people have noticed from the Mandalorian. The comedy part was the comedy, and the action/drama was the action/drama. There weren’t a lot of ‘quirky’ quips throughout the fights that ruined the mood (looking at you, Marvel). The characters interacted with each other really well, and I got invested in Javi’s dreams. The funniest parts of the movie were after Cage starts believing that Javi is a cartel lord. He asks Javi to open a door, where he is warned that it may change their relationship forever. Nic believes the door to have the kidnapped daughter of the President of Spain behind it. After possibly the most suspenseful door-opening scene in cinema history, the lights turn on and it is revealed that the room is just a museum of Nicolas Cage movie artifacts. There are plenty of moments like this throughout the movie, and they just get funnier.

I was so relieved when it turned out that Javi was innocent all along. He’s very lovable in this movie, and I would have felt terrible if he died. Luckily, everything comes up Javi, so I was happy about that.

The movie isn’t just action and comedy, it’s a heartfelt story of the fictional Nicolas Cage repairing his relationship with his daughter after he realizes the error of his ways. The plotline might have been inspired by Nic feeling like his career took over his home and family life. However, take that with a grain of salt, as I’m no psychologist.

My favorite part of the movie might have been a little nerdy, but I liked it. The movie was split into a couple identifiable acts, which I can’t usually discern. The first act was the expository of Nic in the midst of a downturn in his life. The second act was Nic meeting Javi, meeting the CIA, and betraying Javi. The third act was him becoming best friends with Javi, learning how his family really feels about him, and having to kill Javi. The last act is learning the truth about Javi, having his daughter kidnapped, and rescuing her while taking out the cartel and making a movie. It was really well-paced, and I commend the writers for that.

I would recommend this movie to anyone over the age of fourteen. While it’s relatively tame, curse words are used very frequently as a source of entertainment. ‘Massive Talent’ really only got its’ R rating for the frequent use of swears. If you’re fine with that, it is 100% worth it to see this movie, even if you don’t like Nicolas Cage. There’s so much good in the movie that it’s hard to convey through one review. You have to watch the movie for the full experience, but it’s oh-so-good. Thank you for reading.