Film Pick of the Week: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - review by Yvette Huddleston

Ok, it must sound all very ‘meta’ but if you enjoyed the classic Spike Jonze movie Being John Malkovich, scripted by Charlie Kaufman, then this could be for you. Incidentally Kaufman was also behind the intriguing film Adaptation in which Cage played a dual role – as he does here: ‘himself’ and his younger, angrier CGI alter ego who is prone to turning up unannounced and shouting at key moments.

The fictional Nicolas Cage is a little down on his luck – his career is not quite what it used to be, he is no longer in the A-list category, he is estranged from his wife Olivia (Sharon Horgan) and their moody teenage daughter Addy (Lily Mo Sheen) and has been living in a hotel, running up bills for far too long. He is holding out for a great part with a great script but his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) advises him that he needs to take up some of the offers he has been turning down before people start going elsewhere.

Suffice to say he is going through a bit of a midlife crisis and he is too self-absorbed to notice that, for his daughter at least, he has become something of an embarrassment. There is an excruciatingly awkward (and very funny) scene in which he hijacks her birthday party by singing a song he composed for her. Addy accuses him, not unreasonably, of making everything about himself.

Then an offer comes in for Cage to make an appearance at the party of Spanish billionaire, and Nicolas Cage superfan, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) at his luxury compound on Mallorca. Reluctantly Cage accepts and despite himself he finds that he likes Javi and enjoys his company – they have long cosy conversations about films and storytelling and it turns out Javi is an aspiring screenwriter. Then Nic is visited by a couple of CIA agents who inform him that Javi is actually the head of a violent crime cartel and they recruit him (he has no real choice in the matter) to work for them, spying on Javi and gathering information. Needless to say, things pretty quickly go pear-shaped. Cue action mayhem and divided loyalties.