THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

I've always been a Nicolas Cage fan and am so happy he's back with this shot-in-the-arm dose of awesomeness (not that he went anywhere). The film is a tongue-in-cheek homage to some of his previous work while simultaneously working as a film within a film. After deciding to retire from acting and in debt, Cage agrees to attend a birthday party for superfan Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) in Majorca, Spain for $1 million. However, he's soon approached by two CIA agents, Vivian (Tiffany Haddish) and Martin (Ike Barinholtz) who attempt to convince Cage that Javi is an international arms dealer. Unconvinced, Cage at first agrees to assist the CIA to prove Javi's innocent by downloading sensitive material. However, when the daughter of a Spanish politician is kidnapped and the CIA believes she's hidden somewhere within Javi's compound, Cage ups the ante in order to save the girl if she is indeed being held on the premises. During this time, Cage and Javi's relationship begins to deteriorate with each looking to kill the other. This is an action-comedy that starts out wonderfully but pacing is a problem about two-thirds of the way in. The film opens ridiculously as only Nicolas Cage can do: it's funny and engaging but by the time Cage and Javi attempt to kill each other, the film comes to a screeching halt but does make up for it a bit in the final act. The comradery between Cage and Javi appears genuine both onscreen and off and even with the pacing issues, the film is still a lot of fun. This has been better than some of the other recent independent films Cage has done and if your a fan of his, you're not going to want to miss this one. 6.5/10