Overall Rating: ***
The Weather Man @ IMDB
Synopsis:
David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a Chicago weather man whose life is not all that it should be. His father (Michael Caine), a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer doesn’t take him seriously. His taunted daughter (Gemmenne de la Peña) is obese and doesn’t have any motivation in life. His son (Nicholas Hoult) is hanging out with the wrong people. And is ex-wife (Hope Davis) hates him. David gets the opportunity to fix all that is wrong with his life when he is offered a job in New York for a national news show. Things get complicated when his father is diagnosed with a terminal disease.
Review:
Would you like to feel depressed? Then watch this movie. You will feel so bummed while you’re watching it, that anything that makes your life seem hard will feel rather light. This is a downer, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, for the power that it could have had, The Weather Man seemed to fall short. In my mind, it definitely had the potential to be 4 or even 5 stars. But like most things in life, it didn’t quite attain perfection.
My biggest problem with this movie was character development. This largely falls on the heads of the writers. Though actors play a role in developing the character, writers have to provide meaningful events in a plot to show progression. Through out this movie, we see the miserable existence that is David Spritz. The poor guy’s life is in shambles despite his cushy job, nice car, and relative freedom. The problem is that he doesn’t learn a single thing from all his failures. He doesn’t grow whatsoever. It seems that his life is no different at the end of this film than it is at the beginning. So what is did we just spend 101 minutes watching? Simply a snapshot of his pathetic life. The audience needs something to invest in. I need to be given a reason to cheer David on and I just don’t feel like I got one.
The acting was solid. Michael Caine and Nicolas Cage were brilliant as always. These two carry the movie and in my opinion kept it from being 1 or 2 stars. The writers got one thing right, and that is good dialogue, even if it had a little too much foul language. The exchanges between David and his father help you understand what he is all about. The daughter, Shelly, is probably the next most critical character. Gemmenne plays her well. I have to wonder though if others couldn’t have done the job just as well. Shelly isn’t that complicated. She’s an apathetic girl who’s just come to accept her life as it is. I guess the effort David makes to reach his daughter shows at least a desire to change things in his life.
In the end this movie seemed to be a cheap version of American Beauty. The style and feel of the movie is the same, but The Weather Man failed where American Beauty triumphed. This wasn’t a horrible movie. It just wasn’t great. I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend you go out and rent this one, unless you want to feel better about your life. I guess if you’re a Nicolas Cage fan, its worth the viewing, just don’t have too high expecations.