Rated: M
Directed by: Tom Gormican
Written by: Tom Gormica & Kevin Etten
Produced by: Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr p.g.a., Kevin Turen
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alesssandra, Mastronardi, Jacod Scipio, Lily Sheen, with Neil Patrick Harris and Tiffany Haddish.
‘You’re a fucking movie star and don’t you forget it.’
Massive talent is a clever movie because it has all the humour of the Nick Cage swagger, yet layered with Nick as Nick, then Nick writing a script about the movie that is Nick, which is an, ‘adult drama’ about the friendship of two men, that is to say Nick being invited to the house of Javi (Pedro Pascal), a supposed murderous weapons dealer, in Mallorca for his birthday.
For $1 million Nick hopes the request isn’t for anything more than a party invite.
Turns out Javi has a script he wants Nick to read.
He’s a huge fan.
They get along.
It’s like kids hanging out that click and know they’re going to be best friends.
It’s good fun with some decent belly laughs along with the clever fold of story over the actor that is Nick. He evens has an alter ego of himself as young Nick – ‘Never shit on yourself.’
There is more to the story of the film then the Cage-factor with kidnapping and cartels set on the coast of Spain.
Family drama gets involved with the ever suffering, thank-god-she’s-in-my-life ex-wife, Olivia (Sharon Horgan) with daughter Addy (Lily Sheen), ‘she thought Humphrey Bogart was a porn star.’
There’s some great dialogue here and Nick’s little flicks of the head and self-obsession in therapy with said family is gold. As is the sincerity of Javi’s fandom seen in his wide-eyed star-struck regard of Nick.
I felt like the film goes on a bit at the end (a bit like this review, but never shit on yourself ; ) and the soundtrack gets jaunty, letting down the tone down at times. But a good entertainer with some clever thrown in that doesn’t take itself too seriously.