The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Line You Likely Didn't Know Was Improvised
In a film marketplace dominated by superhero films of varying quality, animated adventures, and return trips to the Wizarding World, moviegoers are about to witness something truly different from the norm. "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" arrives on the big screen on April 22, 2022, putting a spotlight on Hollywood icon Nicolas Cage as he gives the performance of a lifetime as, well, Nicolas Cage. He stars as a fictionalized version of himself who befriends a wealthy superfan named Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) and soon finds himself at the center of a dire, dangerous situation.
After the two become BFFs, Cage learns that Gutierrez is a high-profile arms dealer with the CIA hot on his tail. As if that weren't enough to take in, Gutierrez has Cage's family captured, leaving the big-screen staple no choice but to mount a desperate mission to save them. To do so, he has to channel some of his most famous and beloved roles in addition to interacting with a younger version of himself that only he can see, known as Nicky Cage. It's bonkers, bananas, and a host of similar adjectives, but above all else, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is a true love letter to Cage's extensive filmography.
In referencing some of his many recognizable parts, Nicolas Cage went out of his way to improvise a line that, all things considered, seems like it should've been in the script to begin with.
Nicolas Cage couldn't pass up a Wicker Man reference
Throughout his roller coaster of a career, Nicolas Cage has done it all. Action, drama, comedy, and everything in-between. At the same time, he's also become the focal point of numerous online memes, ranging from his matter-of-fact statement that he's going to steal the Declaration of Independence in "National Treasure" to a wide-eyed screenshot of his portrait in "Face/Off." Although it's a horror movie, even 2006's "The Wicker Man" spawned a Cage meme when his character, Edward Malus, is tortured using live bees — a moment that Cage couldn't not reference in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nicolas Cage shed some light on how far he was willing to go as far as nods to his past movies were concerned. When it came to a line referring to the famous bee scene, he revealed that it wasn't initially in the "Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" script. He added it himself, citing the internet's choice to turn an otherwise dark scene into a joke as compelling motivation for him to do so. "It's like their Frankenstein's monster, and so I'm playing with that," Cage explained, going on to ponder why online communities have done this with so many of his performances.
Based on the premise alone, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" has the potential to be one of the most intriguing movies in recent memory. The fact that it's loaded with Nicolas Cage memes, including the "Wicker Man" one? That more than brings it to another level.