Movie Review: The Weather Man
Friends of mine walked out of this movie, and four people (nearly half the audience) left halfway through while I was there. Take this as a warning if you're looking for pure entertainment: it is not an easy film to watch. But ultimately it is an important one.
David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is successful in his caeer, but is failing at life. He tries desperately to reconcile with his ex-wife. So desperately that he ends up chasing her further away. And the two kids are excellent in their roles of victims of divorce, both trying to figure out life in their own ways. Michael Caine's performance as Robert Spritz, or Pa-pa, is one of a sad, regretful and disappointed man, trying to catch (or perhaps impart) one final glimmer of light from (to) a bleak family. The equal measure of regret and disappointment in David and Robert has driven a quiet, passive wedge between them.
The not-quite-celebrity status of a weatherman provides the perfect vehicle for the questions this movie asks. Questions about identity and purpose. Spritz realises that he can't measure up to the trust that people have in him. (He's offered several physical reminders in the form of messy fast-food projectiles.) He feels even more like a fraud when he enters negotiations with a much larger network. It's a huge advancement opportunity, and he wants it as deeply as he feels inadequate for it. David believes that if he could just get it, he could put the rest of his life back together around it, but it's destined to not be that easy.
I appreciate that the Hollywood machine dared create a movie like this. In a tide of endless happy endings, this one stands unique. Though sad and frustrating, I agree with Ebert's comment: "Every bad movie is depressing. No good movie is depressing." At the end The Weather Man, if I wasn't so stunned by its reality and depth, I probably would have applauded.
David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is successful in his caeer, but is failing at life. He tries desperately to reconcile with his ex-wife. So desperately that he ends up chasing her further away. And the two kids are excellent in their roles of victims of divorce, both trying to figure out life in their own ways. Michael Caine's performance as Robert Spritz, or Pa-pa, is one of a sad, regretful and disappointed man, trying to catch (or perhaps impart) one final glimmer of light from (to) a bleak family. The equal measure of regret and disappointment in David and Robert has driven a quiet, passive wedge between them.
The not-quite-celebrity status of a weatherman provides the perfect vehicle for the questions this movie asks. Questions about identity and purpose. Spritz realises that he can't measure up to the trust that people have in him. (He's offered several physical reminders in the form of messy fast-food projectiles.) He feels even more like a fraud when he enters negotiations with a much larger network. It's a huge advancement opportunity, and he wants it as deeply as he feels inadequate for it. David believes that if he could just get it, he could put the rest of his life back together around it, but it's destined to not be that easy.
I appreciate that the Hollywood machine dared create a movie like this. In a tide of endless happy endings, this one stands unique. Though sad and frustrating, I agree with Ebert's comment: "Every bad movie is depressing. No good movie is depressing." At the end The Weather Man, if I wasn't so stunned by its reality and depth, I probably would have applauded.
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