🍿36: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
This week: SP's take on Nicolas Cage playing Nick Cage and the kind of movie fact that might give you nightmares 👹
“Everybody's talented, fucking everyone in this bar is talented at one thing or another.”
~ A Star is Born, 2018
I’m back baby…
Following on from Joseph Wade’s review of The Northman in the last issue of SP — many thanks Joe — I’m back!
It’s been a whole month since my review of The Worst Person in the World and now we’re in the limbo phase just before the blockbuster season begins. This year, it’s marked by the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hits the big screen today in the UK and tomorrow in the US (according to IMDB).
As the latest MCU film is almost definitely going to be a commercial hit, it’s no wonder that there are very few Hollywood films opening in the next couple of weeks, or even independents for that matter.
While I had hoped to review The Quiet Girl or The Innocents in the next SP, neither are coming to a cinema near me. So instead, the next edition of Salty Popcorn will feature Everything Everywhere All At Once. While this multiverse-themed kung fu film isn’t typically what we’d cover at SP, it’s receiving great critical acclaim and, as The Guardian notes, it’s “being called 2022’s first genuine masterpiece.”
Let’s hope they’re right…
Now for the headlines:
National treasures Wallace & Gromit will be making a return as Ben Whitehead has been confirmed to take over the role of Wallace from the late Peter Sallis. Read more.
Paramount announced a spin-off prequel to A Quiet Place last week, while John Krasinski is working away at the third main Quiet Place film, which is expected to be released in 2025. Read more.
The first teaser trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovich Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovich, has dropped. Read more.
Following the Nicolas Cage theme this week, a sequel to the 1997 action film Face/Off could be likely, according to Cage. Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free but you can support this independent publication by paying just £5 per month. In return, you’ll be the first to access upcoming premium features.
Upcoming Releases
Don’t Worry Darling
UK: 23 September // USA: 23 September
Florence Pugh and Harry Styles star alongside a somewhat unlikely ensemble in this upcoming psychological thriller directed by Olivia Wilde (Book Smart). Set in 1950s suburbia, Don’t Worry Darling follows Alice (Pugh) as her reality begins to crack while “revealing a disturbing truth underneath”.
Emergency
UK: 20 May // USA: 20 May
This satirical thriller follows three students that return home to find a girl unconscious in their apartment. Worried the police will suspect them of wrongdoing, they try to get her to safety without drawing suspicion.
Fact of the week
In the 1937 film Sh! The Octopus, actress Elspeth Dudgeon underwent the first makeup process of its kind — pioneered by Karl Strauss — which overly exaggerated the highlights and shadows of her face (and teeth!) using just one colour.
When equipped with a filter of the same colour, this makeup was invisible to the camera, but when the filter was taken away, Dudgeon’s face undergoes an incredible transformation.
See it for yourself…
Review: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Star rating:
2 (out of 5)
Where to watch:
USA: Only in Cinemas
UK: Only in Cinemas
Runtime:
1hr 46m
Director:
Tom Gormican
Blurb:
Unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, actor Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage) accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan's birthday party. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission.
The review (NO spoilers):
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the action-buddy-comedy that’s probably a lot of fun for anyone who is either a massive Cage fan or is able to look past the sheer stupidity of it all.
While I did laugh out loud a few times, I’d say that all the best parts of this film are in the trailer and I probably rolled my eyes as often as I laughed. What really surprised me about this film is that it takes itself a little too seriously in some ways while on the grander scale it doesn’t take itself seriously at all.
Threats are resolved too quickly while scenes of peril never feel truly perilous. Sadly, the film’s emphasis leans more towards this shallow action than it does the quality of the script, which at times is very funny - though is more often absurd for absurdity’s sake.
This imbalance creates a conflict in its direction that makes the film feel hollow. I feel like there was a real opportunity for this film to be surreal, witty and hilariously funny but without a better script and more original directing, this film can barely bear the weight of its own mediocrity.
All that said, I must be among the minority of critics here as, at the time of writing, the film has scored 7.5/10 on IMDB and an impressive 87% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m not sure whether I missed a few Nick Cage references, or it simply appeals more to an American sense of humour but if you’re interested in a different opinion then check out Clarisse Loughrey’s review for The Independent.
Scroll down for The Critic’s Cut and to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent…
This Is The End
2013 | UK: Amazone Prime (Free for subs) // US: Starz (Free for subs)
If you’re looking for another whacky comedy where actors play themselves, this might be it. Here, Seth Rogen and his usual co-stars (James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride et al) barricade themselves in Franco’s home in an attempt to survive the apocalypse.
In the next issue:
Everything Everywhere All at Once
UK: 13 May // USA: 25 March | Watch the Trailer
