I think we were all a little bit leery when we found out that Nicholas Cage was going to be playing Nicholas Cage in a really long titled movie. However, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent makes it work so well. Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten‘s ambitious and wildly creative idea to make the most Nicholas Cage movie ever, resulted in a delightful action-packed meta-comedy.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent follows a fictionalized Cage who is down on his luck. With his acting career drying up and his personal relationships struggling, he decides to accept an offer to appear at a fan’s birthday party for $1 million dollars. The birthday boy is billionaire Cage super-fan, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal), and he and Cage quickly become friends. However, when Javi is suspected of being an arms dealer and kidnapper, Cage uses his friendship to help the CIA investigate Javi.
The film premiered in theaters on April 22, 2022, and has received very positive reviews. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is riddled with Cage references and Easter eggs as the film hilariously spoofs his career. The action-packed film goes by fast, culminating in a final intense stand-off before ending on a sweet note.
How does The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent end?
To help the CIA in their investigation of Javi, Cage begins making a movie with him as an excuse to stay close to him. However, things start to move toward a conclusion when Javi privately goes to visit his cousin, Lucas (Paco León). It turns out, Lucas is the actual arms dealer, as well as the one who kidnapped Maria (Katrin Vankova), the daughter of an anti-crime politician.
Lucas tips off Javi that Cage is working with the CIA and instructs Javi to kill Cage. Javi lures Cage into a secluded area to murder him, and the two fight when Cage realizes what is happening. However, they have to admit that they simply can’t bring themselves to kill each other. That’s when Lucas’ men start firing on them and the two bicker about who should make a run to the car. Once they escape, they meet up with Cage’s ex-wife, Olivia (Sharon Horgan), who tells them that Lucas’ men have kidnapped Cage’s daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen). They rush to the CIA agents’ safe house for help, only to find Lucas’ men beat them there and murdered the agents.
This is where the poorly planned rescue mission begins and Javi helps Cage and Olivia go undercover as a criminal couple to get close to Lucas. The plan works long enough for them to retrieve Maria and Addy, but they are recognized by Lucas. Cage utilizes his golden guns (identical to the ones he used in Face/Off) to escape. Javi decides to stay behind to hold Lucas off and he and Cage share an emotional goodbye. Cage, Olivia, Addy, and Maria race to the American embassy with Lucas in pursuit. Once there, Lucas holds them at gunpoint, but luckily Addy has a knife which she tosses to Cage. Together, as a family, they take down Lucas.
The film then transitions and we see that Cage has adapted the events into his new film, which is applauded. He makes amends with Javi and then goes home to watch Paddington 2 with his family.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ending explained
The ending of the film is pretty straightforward and it’s intentionally predictable, matching the rhythm of many of Cage’s action films. After playing the role of a hero so many times, Cage finally gets the opportunity to be a real-life hero. Also, of course he’s going to turn it into one of his signature Cage films. It also turns out that Demi Moore was cast as Olivia in the movie, giving the actress a fun cameo. The applause the film gets means that Cage is back on track with his career. It also confirms that Javi is alive and, more importantly, that his bromance with Cage is still alive, too.
However, the real meaning of the film is in the very final scene when Cage goes home to the family. His adventure did revive his love and passion for filmmaking, but it also revived the love he had for his family. At the beginning of the film, this fictionalized Cage is obsessed with himself and has let his career destroy his relationship with his family. By the end, after nearly losing his daughter, finding friendship, and becoming a hero, Cage has learned what’s important in life. He still has his film career, but he can also still make it home in time for family movie night.
His rediscovery of his passion and the healing of his family relationships ends the film on a sweet note. It also connects back to the beginning of the film, when Javi recommended Paddington 2 to Cage. Turns out that both Cage and Javi absolutely love the film. It doesn’t really have any significance—the creators just really liked Paddington 2 and managed to add a last bit of humor with its reappearance at the end.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
