Courtesy of IMP Awards
Nicolas Cage has always been an amazing actor to me. He has played such a variety of characters that there seems to be no role that he can’t do. He has appeared in a wide range of genres that showcases his eccentric personality. His phenomenal performance in 1995′s Leaving Las Vegas finally earned him an Oscar. In The Weather Man, Cage delivers a funny and compelling performance that is worth remembering.
The Weather Man is about David Spritz (Nicolas Cage), a weatherman at a news station in Chicago. David is a frustrated and sad man who is trying to reconcile with his wife, Noreen (Hope Davis), who is seeing another man (Michael Rispoli). He is also trying to connect with his son and daughter, who are dealing with issues of their own. David’s daughter is being picked on at school, so he tries to involve her in different activities, like archery, to cheer her up. His teenage son (Nicholas Hoult) is withdrawn from his family and hangs out with his counsellor, where they share an interest in photography.
David’s father, Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine), is a famous writer who has been diagnosed with lymphoma and is disappointed in David’s lack of will to save his marriage and family. David, who idolizes his father, tries to impress him with the news that he has an interview for a news network in New York; he views the job prospect as a new beginning for him and his family. However, certain events happen that have David questioning what exactly he wants.
Nicolas Cage is darkly funny as David Spritz. David is a melancholy man who does not find any joy in his job. People throw food at him when he is walking on the street when the forecast does not match the weather, which he has come to accept. He tries to gain approval from his dying father, who is upset about the way David’s life has turned out. David desperately tries to gain respect from him but doesn’t know how to. His relationship with his wife is one of anger and frustration. They bicker constantly, and David resents her new relationship with another man, whom he hilariously confronts on several occasions.
David is an absent father to his children, but he tries to reconnect with them. He spends time with his lonely daughter and tries to put on a smile on her face. He has an awkward relationship with his son, whom he does not know how to talk to. With all of this, David finds an outlet for his frustrations in archery. He takes up the activity after his daughter quickly loses interest in it. Archery eventually becomes the only joy that David gets out of his life.
The Weather Man is a dark and funny film about a man trying to hang on to the remnants of his life. He desperately and comically tries to change the course of his life — which doesn’t always work — but he doesn’t quit. This movie is exceptional in its ability to show that life may not go the way we plan it, but there are always bright spots to be found if we just keep on trying.
Language warning:
