Nicolas Cage’s highly anticipated new film, The Unbearable Weight of a Great Talent, received rave reviews upon its premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
After its first wave of critics, the film received a rare 100 percent fresh rating from its first wave of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
As of press time, 15 reviews have been published and dozens more to come, but the first influx speaks volumes for Cage’s film.
Rave Reviews: Nicolas Cage premiered his highly anticipated new film, The Unbearable Weight of Enormous Talent, at SXSW in Austin, Texas to rave reviews
Freshness: Critics in Austin saw the film first and clearly liked what they saw, earning a rare 100% freshness rating from the first wave of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film is slated for release on April 22. The plot revolves around Cage playing a version of himself who is in financial trouble.
He agrees to appear at a billionaire superfan’s birthday party for $1 million, but he’s actually there as a CIA informant since the superfan (Pedro Pascal) is a drug lord.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety calls the concept of Cage playing Cage “a vanity we get used to in seconds” and calls it “a gift that keeps on giving”.
Nick as Nick: Due in theaters on April 22, the film stars Nicolas Cage as a financially struggling version of himself.
The Gift: Owen Gleiberman of Variety calls the concept of Cage playing Cage “a vanity we get used to in seconds” and calls it “a gift that keeps on giving”.
He adds that the film is “a commercial comedy that has a crazy good time poking fun at Nicolas Cage, celebrating everything that makes him Nicolas Cage.”
Cage did have financial problems, which caused him to take just about every role he could, with Gleiberman calling him a “slum superhero.”
John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter calls the film “a romp aimed at cultists looking for Crazy Cage performances and forgiving misfires in between.”
Celebrate: He adds that the film is “a commercial comedy that has a crazy good time poking fun at Nicolas Cage, celebrating everything that makes him Nicolas Cage.”
Rumble: John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter calls the film “a romp aimed at cultists who sought out Crazy Cage performances and forgave the misfires in between.”
However, he adds that the story “loses some of its wildcard flavor as it gets closer to the end”, and calls the action bits “regular”.
Maria E. Gates of RogerEbert.com revealed that she has been a fan of Cage since she was 11, adding that director Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Atten “understand the fans’ connection to Cage”.
“Even amid all this meta-commentary about modern filmmaking, the mechanics of Hollywood, and the emotional load of fandom, Cage the male always knows what is expected of the Cage myth,” she adds.
General: However, he adds that the story “loses some of its wild card flavor as it gets closer to the end” and calls the action bits “universal”.
Connection: Maria E. Gates of RogerEbert.com revealed that she has been a fan of Cage since she was 11, adding that director Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Atten “understand the fans’ connection to Cage.”
“In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, he finds the perfect synthesis of the two and in turn delivers one of the most challenging yet crowd-pleasing performances of his career,” she concluded in her review.
Jude Dry of IndieWire called it “one of the funniest films of the year” and added that the film “has something for everyone”.
The film also stars Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Sharon Horgan, Neil Patrick Harris and Lily Mo Sheen, daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen.
Funniest: Jude Dry of IndieWire called it “one of the funniest films of the year” and added that the film “has something for everyone.”
Perfect: “In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, he finds the perfect synthesis of the two and in turn delivers one of the most challenging yet crowd-pleasing performances of his career,” she concluded in her review.
Before the release of his latest film, Cage showed great heart in Pig, which was released in July and also received a high Rotten Tomatoes score of 97 percent.
He stars in the independent drama as former world-class chef Robin Feld, who is socially withdrawn and lives in a woods shack outside of Portland, Oregon after experiencing a personal tragedy a few years ago.
Cage lives off the land and supplies expensive truffles to local restaurants, which he can get thanks to a truffle pig with whom he is closely related.
But when he is brutally attacked and his pig is stolen, Robin makes a rare foray into the city in hopes of finding his only friend.
Previous hit! Before the release of his latest film, Cage showed a lot of heart in Pig, which was released in July.
The film received an impressive 97 percent fresh rating from critics polled by Rotten Tomatoes, and Cage received near-universal praise – along with some Oscar buzz – for his uncharacteristically understated performance.
In his podcast interview, Cage referred to Pig’s first director, Michael Sarnosky, as “Archangel Michael” for giving his career a much-needed boost.
“After a couple of failures, I realized that in the studio system I was marginalized; and they weren’t going to invite me,” Cage said. “I always knew there was a need for a young director who would come back or look back on some of the films I had made and realize that I could fit into his script and rediscover me.”
Favorite role: Cage called original Pig director Michael Sarnosky “Archangel Michael” for giving his career a much-needed boost with his universally acclaimed naturalistic role; more from Pig
He continued, “And that’s why he’s not just Michael. He is Archangel Michael. This would not have happened if he had not had the determination to say, “Come with me.”
Cage also appears to have dismissed complaints from some critics that many of his recent performances were “over the top”.
“Well, when they tell me that, I say, ‘You tell me where the peak is, and I’ll tell you if I’ve made it or not.’
The moon-stricken actor explained that he starred in a wide variety of films to keep his filmography interesting.
“My aunt Talia Shire was the first to tell me, ‘Naturalism is a style,’” he said, referring to the Godfather actress. “And I’ve also been a big believer in the synchronicity of the arts, and that what you can do with one art form, you can do with another meaning. You know, for example, in painting you can be abstract, photorealistic, impressionistic, why not try it in cinema?”