THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

 Nicholas Cage     Pedro Pascal     Tiffany Haddish     Sharon Horgan

Neil Patrick Harris     Demi Moore     David Gordon Green

            This is a curious mixing up of reality and fantasy, though mostly fantasy.  It seems that writer (with Kevin Etten) and director Tom Gormican intended to make a spoof of Nicholas Cage and his movies by weaving in and out of both in a multi-layered piece that oftentimes uncannily mirrors Cage’s own life and career.  To enmesh the plot further, Cage’s double named Nicholas Kim Coppola (the actor’s given name before he changed it) appears periodically urging him to be true to himself as an actor.  Confusing?  It’s meant to be.

            When the movie opens (after a quick scene of a kidnapping unexplained), Nicholas Cage the character is in a career slump, which he does not want to acknowledge.  Neil Patrick Harris playing his agent Richard Fink tries to get him any job he can, even those beneath him.  But the offer that most intrigues him is the one in which he will go to a super fan’s birthday party for which he’ll earn $1 million.  This makes Cage vulnerable to a major scam and provide a perfect opportunity for an action film, which the character Cage is eager/desperate for.  

            In the beginning, the film portrays Cage the actor as someone so self-involved, he cannot celebrate his teenage daughter on her birthday without directing the guests’  attention to himself.  This part of the movie is hard to watch because he is so obnoxious.  But it transitions to Javi Gutierez’s (Pascal) villa in Mallorca where Cage will be caught up in his host’s luxurious living and an intrigue that involves the CIA (Haddish).

            Bright and knowledgeable people are likely to enjoy thoroughly the references to movies (highlighted are Cage’s Guarding Tess, Moonstruck, and others) and filmmaking (Cage and Gutierez wanting to make “a character-driven adult drama”, stealing lines, going in and out of character).  The audience I was with seemed to enjoy most the usual kinds of goofiness that many people seem to love, like pratfalls, a car backed up so fast it crashes into another car, and hair-raising car chases.  So, in these senses, the film will appeal to a broad span of viewers.

            I admire the actor Nicholas Cage for agreeing to support a movie that portrays him with many of his flaws…and he acts in it, no less.  His genuineness and willingness to allow himself to be seen in such a light is unusual and reflective of his decision to change his name from Coppola to Cage early on in his career and fund numerous charitable projects through the years.

            I also admire the skill, cleverness, and humor that Tm Gormican and Kevin Etten brought to bear on such a complex, multi-layered work that is meant essentially as entertainment.  But it might be more than that in both the filmmaking world and in psychoanalytic efforts to understand the individual in the contexts of origin, development, and achievements.

            Nicholas Cage as himself is of course the penultimate of any acting career, and he does it so easily.  Pedro Pascal is a talented actor in many different kinds of roles, and he pulls off the transitions required here.  Tiffany Haddish as a CIA agent is not so convincing, but her role is meant to be comical more than real, and for that she does a good job.  

 

Nicolas Cage?  See him here in all his facets, both real and imagined.

 

Grade:  B+                            By Donna R. Copeland

MILITARY WIVES

Kristin Scott Thomas     Sharon Horgan     Gaby French     India Ria Amarteifio

     People don’t usually think much about the wives of military personnel, so to see a film about them as a group is a treat. Written by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard and directed by Peter Cattaneo, the story revolves around group dynamics when a bevy of not-likeminded souls are thrown together, and then teased/cajoled/pressured to see themselves as a group with an identity.  Obviously with a clear understanding of how groups coalesce, the writers and director create a realistic account that is entrancing for the viewer, and based upon a real story. 

     The vehicle through which this group identity comes about is singing (first), which evolves into an actual choir.  We are introduced first to the colonel’s wife, Kate (expertly—as always—played by Kristin Scott Thomas), who uses her station on the base to influence and command respect.  But she is a newcomer, and attempts to over-ride Lisa (Horgan) who is put in charge of the wives’ activities, especially when their husbands are away on a mission.  Kate quickly gets the impression that Lisa is not an experienced leader, and is ready to impose her more “cultural” will on the group.  Their initial interactions make the viewer (at least this female reviewer) cringe, dreading the usual “cat fight” that follows in so many films. 

     It’s like two cultures coming at each other gangbusters, but with a feminine veneer. I say “veneer” because that is how the conflict is typically portrayed of women.  But these characters have more substance.  And the processes through which they do come together ring unbelievably true.  It’s rewarding to see two women work out a complicated relationship through the essential give-and-take that working through requires.

     It is seeing how those processes go forward that constitute the humor and drama of Military Wives.  We may guess how everything is going to turn out, but it’s the journey there, along with the human truths displayed, which makes the film a joy to see.

     Kristin Scott Thomas has had a long career in successful films, one of which (The English Patient) received an Academy Award for Best Picture, along with a number of personal awards for her accomplishments.  I have always gotten the impression she chooses the films she is in for a reason, either its meaningfulness to her personally or its message for its audience.  She has always been one of my favorites so much so that I will see any film in which she appears.  Here, she once again does a masterful job in evincing the gradual changes that occur in a character over time when dealing with social/emotional issues that will humanize her.

     Thomas’ co-star, Sharon Horgan as Kate’s primary competitor fully meets her halfway, and the two of them achieve such anin-sync performance it’s entertaining just to watch them perform.  I’m not as familiar with Horgan’s work—which has been primarily in British television—but she demonstrates quality in nuance and range in this film that attests to her skill.

     Other characters in Military Wives are colorful and hold your attention, such as the reluctant but talented singer played by Gaby French, the cheeky teenage daughter played by India Ria Amarteifio, and the wife of a new recruit played by Emma Lowndes.  

     What two leaders of a military base choir accomplished made such an impression, the idea spread throughout the military, with over 75 choirs now active across UK bases.

Altogether, Military Wives is an entertaining, uplifting film that will engage you, entertain you, and sometimes make you cry in depicting human truths.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland