What I’m watching: two movies that are well worth your time

Date: 5/2/2022

In Theaters: “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”

There have been instances in the past in which a performer plays him or herself in a film – a recent example would be “JCVD” from 2008, in which Jean Claude Van Damme plays a version of himself – but this film takes the concept a lot further.

Nicolas Cage is a talented actor – an Oscar winner – but for some people he has become the poster boy for those actors who take almost any role. Granted, in the past few years he has been trying to erase a $6 million debt to the IRS and he did so by not declaring bankruptcy but instead by working furiously. Cage spoke about it in an article in the show business bible Variety in March.

By doing this new film, Cage turns the rumor mill on its ear by playing an actor named “Nic Cage” who out of desperation takes the assignment of appearing at a birthday party of a super-fan, a mega-rich Spaniard named Javi, played with precise comic timing by Pedro Pascal. Javi is offering the movie Cage a cool $1 million to come to his event.

The movie’s Nic Cage plays off of many of the eccentricities of the real Nic Cage, creating a fun but trippy vibe for the film.

It turns out that Javi isn’t exactly what we think he is – he is a head of an international gun-running cartel – and the movie Nic Cage is recruited by the CIA to gather information about Javi. This blurs the lines even more with the movie Nic Cage using “skills” he learned in action films in order to fulfill his new mission.

I absolutely loved how this movie plays the real Nic Cage’s reputation, and was overjoyed to see how Cage obviously embraced this role.

The film is a wise spoof of Hollywood and acting, as well as being just plain funny.
The Academy would never nominate Cage for another Oscar for this film – the organization is notorious for ignoring comedies – but he certainly deserves the nomination for this role.

In theaters: “The Northman”

This is a the rarest of beasts in filmland: this film is an arthouse approach to a period piece, a Viking movie centered on revenge. It has all of the elements one would associate with a plot about a young man who has sworn revenge on his uncle for years and finally has the opportunity to exact it.

The film is full of brutal scenes of murder and pillaging – to be expected with the genre – but then also have strong elements of the supernatural.

Directed and co-written by Robert Eggers, the movie is very much an original.

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, a prince who sees his father the king murdered by his uncle, who also kidnaps his mother. Sworn to revenge, Amleth is a part of a Viking group that pillages non-Viking villages. At one such event, he encounters the woman, Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), with whom he falls in love as well as a seeress who predicts he will find his uncle and have his revenge.

Learning his uncle is no longer king, but has a compound in Iceland, Amleth poses as a slave destined for Iceland to be closer to his uncle and to try to rescue his mother.
Dark and somber, this is also a film with a “trippy” feel that a standard action movie would never have. The photography is amazing and the music by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough is absolutely primal and perfect.

Skarsgård’s performance is about a person who is not fully formed. Consumed by revenge and trained to be violent, Amleth doesn’t fully develop until he meets Olga. Taylor-Joy is certainly an accomplished young actor at this point, and is nuanced in her performance.
If you’re coming to see a standard action film, you might be disappointed, but if you give it a chance, I think you will see something impressive.