Nicolas Cage’s New Meta Movie Has a Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage’s new meta movie, has achieved a career-best perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes after a premiere at SXSW. Directed by Tom Gormican the film is about Nicolas Cage, played by Nicolas Cage, who begrudgingly accepts a large lump of cash in order to appear at a fan’s birthday party.  Things go awry however, when the CIA recruits Cage in their efforts to capture the fan, who it turns out is an infamous drug lord. Also starring Tiffany Haddish, Pedro Pascal and Neil Patrick Harris, the film is set to release theatrically on April 22.

The film is noteworthy for its meta-narrative most actors haven’t explored, and it continues Cage’s trend of staying away from big-budget studio tentpoles. Despite being immensely successful in the action-adventure genres during the ’90s and early 2000s, Cage made the decision to begin starring in more independent films with smaller budgets. This was attributed by Cage to the constraints that the Hollywood system placed on his acting style, which he has labelled ‘Western Kabuki’, but there is also the fact that films in which he starred lost favor with fans and critics towards the beginning of the 2010s. Since making the decision to go indie, he has built a reputation for great performances in interesting films, with notable highlights being 2018’s Mandy and 2021’s Pig.

Cage’s recent hot streak seemingly isn’t slowing down. After The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent premiered at SXSW earlier this month, the first reviews came in. On Rotten Tomatoes, its score is a perfect 100% after 21 reviews. That early score is above many of Cage’s most acclaimed performances, including Pig and Adaptation, which have scores of 96% and 90%, respectively.

Funnily enough the film might never have happened, as Cage initially turned down the project three or four times before a personal letter from Gormican convinced him to take the role. He appears to have made the right decision however, and many of the critics highlight how the film is a perfect vessel for his unique acting style, appealing simultaneously to Cage fans and everyday moviegoers. This will be a huge boon for the film, as Cage has amassed a substantial internet cult following in recent years. There are surely a plethora of more reviews to be published, but these initial returns are very promising for the film’s prospects.

Therefore, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent could be in line for an excellent performance at the box office when it hits theaters next month. It could also signal the return of Cage to the main stage, as a welcome reception from the public could move the actor from the fringes of online film discussion back onto the A-List. The future certainly looks bright and if the early critical reception is anything to go by, we might be seeing the beginning of a renaissance in Cage’s mainstream acting career.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes