History Film / TheUnbearableWeightOfMassiveTalent

''The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent'' also features Creator/SharonHorgan, Creator/IkeBarinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris. The picture premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 12, 2022, before receiving a wide theatrical release on April 22, 2022. The main trailers can be found [[https://youtu.be/OT_aDZc3vXY here]] and [[https://youtu.be/OT_aDZc3vXY here]]. The red band trailers can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8VuWhvk87o here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YHPZMj8r4 here]].

* TheCartel: Javi is believed to be running a powerful drug cartel. [[spoiler: Except the true mastermind behind the cartel is actually Lucas.]]
* ChekhovsGun:

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: During the final chase sequence, Javi chooses to stay behind [[YouShallNotPass to hold off Lucas and his men]], resulting in him getting shot. He later makes a recovered reappearance on the night his movie premieres.]]

* FamedInStory: As expected of a world-famous movie star. The plot is kicked off when one of Nicolas Cage's wealthy superfans offers him a million dollars to attend his birthday party. Nick's best-known movies are either name-dropped or excerpted throughout the film, and Vivian [[https://youtu.be/kWkdYnAvg0g stops him for a selfie]] while planting a tracker on him.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: At Javi's birthday party, he and Nick both compare themselves to ''Film/GuardingTess'' protagonist Doug Chesnic. Nick describes Doug as "a complicated guy" who "had competing allegiances", alluding to his personal conflict between helping the CIA and remaining a good friend to Javi. [[spoiler:Javi later develops "competing allegiances" between Nick and Lucas.]]

* GilliganCut: Nick can't believe Javi's confession that ''Film/Paddington2'' is his third favorite film of all time, because it made him cry throughout the whole thing, but when Nick agrees to watch it himself, [[https://youtu.be/xEckT94M7qg the scene]] cuts to the movie making him cry as well.

* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler: Martin, Vivian's partner, is shown already dead when Lucas kidnaps Addy and uses Vivian to lure Cage and Javi into a trap.]]

* MetaCasting: Nicolas Cage [[https://youtu.be/OXWyHT8o9iU fanboy]] Pedro Pascal as Nicolas Cage fanboy Javi.

* MushroomSamba: Downplayed. At one point, Javi convinces Nick to take some acid with him for the sake of inspiration for their screenplay. There's nothing trippy, the two are just incredibly laid back for awhile, until they suddenly become very paranoid that [[BeingWatched people are following them]], and they end up panicking and [[DrivesLikeCrazy driving like crazy]] to get away.

** The second trailer makes it seem like after Javi learns about Nick working with the CIA, he chases Nick with a shotgun, angrily scolding him for lying. In the actual movie, that confrontation takes place before Javi knows about the CIA recruiting Nick, when he takes a break from shotgun practice to incorrectly guess Nick's reason for adding a kidnapped girl into the script. Lampshaded shortly earlier, when the film cuts from Vivian reminding Nick that his next movie needs "a trailer moment", to Nick firing the shotgun at a clay pigeon.

** A while after introducing himself to Javi, Nick lounges by the latter's swimming pool. Javi, Lucas, and Gabriela[[note]]dressed more modestly than the guys[[/note]] join him, and learn that he plans to retire from acting. He proceeds to [[Film/LeavingLasVegas drink some alcohol at the bottom of the pool]], until Javi pulls him out.

* TakeMyHand: [[https://youtu.be/-98T6KVWzF0 Parodied]]. At one point, Nick and Javi have to climb over a wall to escape potential stalkers. Javi props up Nick onto the top, but Nick fails twice to pull up Javi, who laments that he has "a very big head." They have a dramatic goodbye... only for Javi to realize that the wall is short, thin, and the corner is right next to him.
--> '''Javi:''' It turns out we could have just walked around.

* ClothingSwitch: Nick and Javi switch NiceShoes [[spoiler:while stalling orders to kill each other]]. When Nick compliments Javi's suede Gucci loafers, Javi suggests that they would look nicer on Nick, then swaps his right loafer with Nick's right taos taupe checkerboard Vans slip-on. After each guy admires how stylish his shoe looks on his friend, Nick asks if Javi wants to trade away his loafers for the complete pair of slip-ons, which Javi delightedly agrees suits himself.

* CarFu: Gabriela Hit Lucas Right Hand Man Carlos by backing up the Land Rover to knock him unconscious.

* AmicableExes: Nick and his ex-wife Olivia seem to be this from their first scene, as least as amicable as they can be when Nick is...Nick. She mostly just understandably wants him to get his shit together. [[spoiler:Whether or not they are actually together again at the end of the movie, she comes to the premiere of his movie he made with Javi and then they go home for family time together with Addy.]]

* GenreShift: Played with in a meta way. Nick and Javi are workshopping a concept for a movie about the friendship between two men that is a smart and lowkey story, no big explosions or chase scenes, which represents the movie up to that point. Then Nick, at Vivian's insistence, recommends possibly adding a kidnapping subplot to "hook in casual viewers" which frustrates Javi, as he believes this is both a bad idea and coming from Nick's unresolved issues with his daughter. [[spoiler:He then proceeds to bring Nick's daughter and ex-wife all the way to Spain to resolve said issues...which indirectly leads to her being kidnapped, leading to a genre shift to a more action-y thriller.]]

* BecomingTheMask: Nick must go from fighting evil in movies, to fighting evil for real.

* DramaPane: When Vivian asks if Nick can find any firearms [[spoiler:to kill Javi with]], Nick goes to swipe some from the Castor Troy statue. As he silently turmoils over the task, his reflection in the display case overlaps the statue's visage, illustrating his imminent opportunity to live out an action movie.

* FictionalFanRealCelebrity: Almost every named character loves Creator/NicolasCage. Most notably, the billionaire protagonist Javi Gutierrez owns several memorabilia with Nick's likeness, and pays a hefty fee to invite him to his birthday party. When Nick considers quitting acting early on, Javi cries, "To turn your back on that gift is to turn your back on the entire human race!", then helps write the actor's next movie.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Vivian tries to indirectly trick Javi into revealing Maria's location, by suggesting that Nick add a kidnapping to the script. When he proposes to Javi that "bad guys" abduct his daughter, Javi begins worrying that Nick's family issues have begun limiting his creativity, so he unexpectedly invites Addy and Olivia to work out their problems with him in Majorca. [[spoiler:This leads to Lucas' goons kidnapping Addy.]]

* TheUnreveal: Before Nick arrives to Majorca, Javi sends him a script he wrote himself, only for Nick's agent to throw it away unread. Javi later emails Nick another copy, but the audience never learns what it was like. The last time it comes up, Nick says at Javi's party that it's the greatest thing he's ever seen (though he presumably hadn't actually read it) but he'd rather write a new script with Javi instead.

* HighDiveHijinks: [[invoked]] During a surprise exercise in improv and MethodActing, Nick tells Javi that they must escape the latter's enemy by jumping into the sea. When they resurface, Nick admits that he didn't expect the cliff to be so tall.

* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:After Lucas and Javi learn about Nick spying for the CIA, Lucas assigns Javi with killing Nick, or else goons would eliminate Javi for harboring a traitor. Between Javi's unwillingness to kill his friend and idol, Lucas' loss of trust in his cousin, and Nick's family's frustration with Javi's tricks, Javi collapses and cries before attempting the task.]]

''The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent'' is an action-packed 2022 BromanticComedy starring Creator/NicolasCage portraying [[AsHimself a fictionalized version of himself]]. The film is directed by Tom Gormican, co-written by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, and produced by Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, and Kevin Turen.

Creator/NicolasCage portrays [[AsHimself a fictionalized version of himself]] in the action-packed 2022 BromanticComedy ''The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.'' It is directed by Tom Gormican, co-written by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, and the producers are Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, and Kevin Turen.

Creatively unfulfilled, a cash-strapped Nicolas Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of wealthy cinephile Javier Gutierrez (Creator/PedroPascal). The gig takes an unexpected turn when Nick is recruited by CIA operative Vivian (Creator/TiffanyHaddish), who has been investigating Javi's connections to the international drug trade. Caught between two huge fans of his movies, Nick finds himself balancing his efforts to entertain Javi with his attempts to uncover evidence of Javi's alleged crimes. Matters further complicate when a genuine friendship develops between Nick and Javi, the latter of whom has an idea for a future Nicolas Cage vehicle. Even Nick's loved ones get involved in the self-referential action.

* ConspicuousConsumption: The conversation Nick has with his agent early on in the movie reveals that Nick has been living at the Sunset Tower -- a high class hotel in West Hollywood -- for over a year, and has racked up a $600,000 bill just from there.

* FamedInStory: As expected of world-famous movie star. The plot is kicked off when one Nicolas Cage's wealthy superfans offers him a million dollars to attend his birthday party. Nick's best-known movies are either name-dropped or excerpted throughout the film, and Vivian [[https://youtu.be/kWkdYnAvg0g stops him for a selfie]] while planting a tracker on him.

Creator/NicolasCage portrays [[AsHimself a fictionalized version of himself]] in the action-packed BromanticComedy ''The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.'' It is directed by Tom Gormican, co-written by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, and the producers are Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, and Kevin Turen.

* KilledOffForReal: By the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Vivian and Martin are both killed by Lucas’s men.]]
* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler: Martin, Vivian’s partner, is shown already dead when Lucas kidnaps Addy and uses Vivian to lure Cage and Javi into a trap.]]

* ScrewYourself: [[spoiler:During one of Nicky’s pep talks to Nick, he ends up making out with him.]]

Creator/NicolasCage portrays [[AsHimself a fictionalized version of himself]] in the action-comedy ''The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.'' It is directed by Tom Gormican, co-written by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, and the producers are Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr, and Kevin Turen.

[[caption-width-right:300:A grounded, adult drama about two tough, sensitive men and their unlikely friendship.]]

* BrickJoke: When Nick is asking Javi what his top 3 favorite movies are, Javi very uncomfortably names ''Film/Paddington2'' as number 3 to the initial derision of Nick (though Nick is reduced to tears by the end of it when he watches it with Javi). [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Nick asks his daughter Addy what movie she wants to watch for once (instead of choosing for her), and she very uncomfortably mentions Paddington 2 as well.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Vivian tries to indirectly trick Javi into revealing Maria's location, by suggesting that Nick add a kidnapping to the script. When he proposes to Javi that "bad guys" abduct his daughter, Javi begins worrying that Nick's family issues have begun limiting his creativity, so he unexpectedly invites Addy and Olivia to work out their problems with him in Mallorca. [[spoiler:This leads to Lucas' goons kidnapping Addy.]]

* TheUnreveal: Before Nick arrives to Mallorca, Javi sends him a script he wrote himself, only for Nick's agent to throw it away unread. Javi later emails Nick another copy, but the audience never learns what it was like. The last time it comes up, Nick says at Javi's party that it's the greatest thing he's ever seen (though he presumably hadn't actually read it) but he'd rather write a new script with Javi instead.

[[caption-width-right:300: Can the man live up to the legend?]]

* HomoeroticSubtext: Nick and Javi's bromance is almost painted in a romantic light. They engage in several intimate conversations, share personal items, and eventually admit that they love each other [[spoiler:while holding each other at gunpoint]]. Efforts that the advertisers made to exacerbate the homoeroticism include playing Music/TheTurtles' "Happy Together" over a montage of the men emotionally bonding, posting [[https://twitter.com/Aude13220/status/1493312564033433604?s=20&t=RZsbJA7Q06rk9aemvRmTtw their confessions of love]] on Instagram on Valentine's Day 2022, and referring to them as "soulmates" in a trailer for the Digital HD release.