05/24/06 The Weather Man

The Weather Man (2005), directed by Gore Verbinski

watched solo; DVD rental (Record Exchange) @ home

Continuing my belief that Nicholas Cage is very streaky in his acting talent, and noting that usually solid director Verbinski was due for a bomb...this one was almost as dreary as the plot that plodded along. I read somewhere that this was described as one the most pessimistic tales that has come out mainstream in recent years. Perhaps. What is perhaps more accurate is to say that this one of the most pessimistic attempts at completing a portrait of American family dysfunction, social excess and perversions, and fake plastic people. Wait, that's spot on. Cage plays a local Chicago weatherman (clever title, huh?), who is going through his own stormy (so punny) personal turmoil, and trying to keep a mask of a smile up for the cameras...all the while questioning his purpose in this crummy thing called life. Yeah, a real upper. His wife loathes him, her new fiance enfuriates him, his son is in & out of rehab & sketchy encounters, his daughter is made fun of & rebels with foul language and smoking, and his father is not only a brilliant writer that he never felt he could live up to...but is also dying, which tends to lighten the mood. Basically, everything in this movie is a bummer. Life, parenting, being a kid, relationships, jobs...it's all crap. Cage trudges through life, getting pegged with the public's garbage as they pass him on the street (and oh, if it isn't perfect product placement on the filmmakers including items like 7 Eleven Big Gulps & Wendy's Frosties being hurled at Cage's face...so blatant, yet so poignant). He wants to snap like Michael Douglas in "Falling Down," but he's too dorky to do so, or too spineless. He decides to make up for his shortcomings in trying to save his failed marriage, re-connect with his kids, get a promotion, and finally mend ties with his father & earn his respect. There's are minor doses of great introspection, and some comedic relief for such heavy context...but too little too late. Kind of like the weatherman's life. Now everybody, take your extra large Slushies from the theater, and chuck them at the screen.

2 out of 5 stars