THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

Cert 15

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, drug misuse, violence, brief sex references

A funny send-up or a giant ego trip?

Nicolas Cage spends much of The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent mocking himself or what has been written or said about him.

This is a curious but gentle self-deprecation via the intriguing vehicle of an action comedy.

Cage stars himself as a fading movie star who is so obsessed with his career that he has forsaken his relationship with his wife (Sharon Horgan) and daughter (Lily Sheen).

However, his star status is firmly on the wane as is his bank balance - thus, after not receiving the call for an upcoming movie, he reluctantly agrees to be the well-paid party guest of a superfan (Pedro Pascal).

The gig is in Majorca where it transpires the CIA are tracking the host because they believe he is the head of a major criminal ring.

Needless to say, the parallel plots are the cause for both action and farce.

Cage is rather disarming in his unusual role although the self-mockery begins to wear a little bit thin after a while (it is even hammered home by a younger hyped version of Cage turning up from time to time to harangue him).

Did he find unloading some past history during Tom Gormican's picture cathartic or had he always had this ability to shine a light on his own failings and make a joke of them?

I don't know but I can report that this is a very original movie.

Sure, it's not quite as hilarious as he or his fellow producers want it to be and the film is rather over-the-top for my tastes but at least it had spark.

Too many pictures don't nowadays.