Critics definitely haven't loved every Nicolas Cage movie in the last few decades, but they're united in praise for his latest, in which he plays an actor called Nick Cage. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which one critic calls "the most Nicolas Cage movie ever," has a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes following its Saturday debut at the SXSW festival in Texas, where Cage was in attendance, Digital Spy reports. Cage plays a divorced and debt-ridden version of himself who accepts $1 million to attend the birthday of a wealthy and possibly criminal superfan. The movie, which will be released in cinemas next month, features references to, and clips from, dozens of Cage films.
Three takes on the movie:
- Owen Gleiberman, Variety: The comedy "has a delirious good time poking fun at Nicolas Cage, celebrating everything that makes him Nicolas Cage—and, in the end, actually becoming a Nicolas Cage movie, which turns out to be both a cheesy thing and a special thing."
- Drew Tinnin, Dread Central: Unbearable Weight "probably couldn’t have been made with any other actor besides Cage. There’s not really anyone out there so acutely self-aware and willing to boldly acknowledge their unique position in the cultural landscape." He adds: "This could easily be called Nicolas Cage’s best performance because, really, it’s every performance bottled into one.
- Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com: "Filled with easter eggs for fans of any facet of Cage's career, the filmmakers don’t place a judgment on which of his films have the most value, understanding that a favorite film is intimate and personal, and that what matters is that it does resonate on some level."
Director and co-writer Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten say they hadn't met Cage before they wrote the movie—and he turned it down several times before saying yes. Etten tells NBC that the script wouldn't have worked with any other actor. "There's such a deep love for him in a way there aren't for some of those other people that have had similar trajectories," he says. Gormican says a scene in which Cage kisses his younger alter ego Nicky was the actor's idea. "It’s the thing you only get with Nic. He comes to you and says, ‘Tom, I’d like to French kiss myself.'" (More Nicolas Cage stories.)
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