Nic Cage (played by Nicolas Cage) is a washed-up, has-been at the start of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent when he botches a meeting with David Gordon Green who is putting together a cast for his new film of which the leading man is the role of a lifetime. Dejected, he tells his agent, Richard Fink (Neil Patrick Harris), that he will retire from the spotlight to spend time with his family. Fink convinces Cage to take one more job, a private birthday party for Spanish mogul and superfan Javi (Pedro Pascal), who will pay enough money to clear the actor of his debts. Once at Javi’s estate, however, Cage gets mixed up with Vivian (Tiffany Haddish), a CIA agent who believes that Javi may be involved with a high-profile kidnapping.  

This meta ode to a performer with over 100 credits to his name across a 40-year career in front of the camera was lovingly directed by Tom Gormican and co-written by him with assistance from Kevin Etten on the page. It is a film that fervent fans of Cage will likely get more out of as they are able to spot the Easter eggs strewn throughout the 107-minute runtime, but even if one has somehow managed to avoid every piece in the actor’s body of work, Massive Talent still functions as a competent action-comedy.   

This goofy and offbeat film from Lionsgate is a textbook definition of an easy-to-digest, mid-budget film; a category that has been largely ignored by the major studios despite their necessity in keeping their coffers full. It is some of our favorite stars out in beautiful locations, playing up and exaggerating the stakes for the camera to get a few laughs out of the audience looking to escape reality for a while. Unfortunately, here, the jokes run a little flat as Gormican and Etten rely more upon the absurdity of the premise and Cage’s general placement in the modern consciousness as a wild card performer than to really refine and punch up the humor. To its credit, though, they never punch down or make anyone a victim of their antics. 

The film works at its best in its interstitial scenes, mostly the find Cage and Javi hanging out, imbibing in various substances, and talking about movies. Pascal, despite his supporting role, often steals the show with his dopey, puppy dog expressions. There is a scene towards the middle where the duo is running from their apparent tail, and they come across a stone wall that they must scale. The sequence plays out poking fun at the over-dramatized “no one gets left behind” scenes in your pick of war dramas, and while Cage leans into his wildness it is Pascal’s contrasting meekness that sells the joke. The dynamic between the two is absolutely charming and it is the main reason that this film works as well as it does. If their friendship were not believable the tone would be ruined, and while they do find themselves facing off against a criminal gang, by and large, Massive Talent strives to achieve and maintain a very lighthearted tone.    

There are probably very few films where the margin of effectiveness can vary so greatly within any given audience. Even stripping away the Cage element of it all, it serves as a rather harmless comedy that, while never getting many true laugh-out-loud moments, can often elicit at least a chuckle. Its singular joke quickly wears thin as it becomes more of a museum of Nic Cage icons from his previous works; allusions, references, and straight-up prop-drops all seem to be the anchor points of the script instead of any actual plot material. That being said, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is still a very unique blending of star power and meme culture. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime film as there are very few – if any – actors working today who would be able to fit into this meta-commentary both on stardom as well as their own history in the industry quite the same way that Cage can.