Nicolas Cage Stuns SXSW Playing Himself in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’
To say the excitement in the room at The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’s SXSW premiere was palpable would be an understatement. The sidewalks in Austin were plastered with hand-printed signs emblazoned with star Nicolas Cage’s face and a fan’s phone number ahead of the event. A fan rows ahead of me wore a sweater branded with the actor’s face; directly behind me, I overheard a fan deliberating when the most opportune moment might be to try and hand the actor a single rose. By the time Cage himself showed up to the debut—clad in a plaid blazer—the room erupted.
The reason for this fervor hardly requires explanation; at this point, Cage is equal parts actor and meme, myth, legend. And Tom Gormican’s madcap buddy comedy—which finds the actor playing an egotistical, even more “extra” version of himself—takes that ethos and runs with it.
The walls are closing in on the movie’s Nicolas Cage by the time we meet him. His ex-wife (played by an impeccably withering Sharon Horgan) is begging him to get his shit together for the sake of their teenage daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen, daughter of Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale, in her film debut). Addy’s tired of feeling like her relationship with her father hinges on adequately praising his favorite movies, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. (It’s every teen’s favorite, right?) And then there’s the small matter of Nick’s massive debt—which includes a $600,000 bill for the hotel where he’s lived for way too long.