Movie Review: The Weather Man

Stars (Out of 10): 8.5

One Word Summary: Cage

Movie Details: MPAA RATING: R for strong language and sexual content Starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Gemmenne de la Peña, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Rispoli, Gil Bellows, and Judith McConnell GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Drama   WRITTEN BY: Steve Conrad   DIRECTED BY: Gore Verbinski   RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: October 28, 2005  RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes   Relevant Sites: IMDB Official Movie Website Watch The Movie Trailers Shopping: Shop Amazon for items related to this movie. Shop for movie posters at AllPosters

"The Weather Man" Review:

          Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man follows Dave Spritz, a television meteorologist (without a degree or background in meteorology), as he deals with personal and professional issues. He's having trouble coping with his divorce, and fears that it's had a negative affect on his two children; his father has been diagnosed with an illness; and though he's a popular Chicago weatherman, people still throw drinks, chicken nuggets, and soft tacos at him every once in a while.

          Dave Spritz is a tragic hero. We want to root for him, but we also have to sit there and watch as he messes everything up. He grew up with a successful father who was always there for him. Spritz wants to do the same thing, but he's incapable. His son is in rehab for smoking pot, and his daughter, who is significantly overweight, is referred to as 'camel toe” at school… and he just can't shake the feeling that everything would have been okay if he'd just remembered the tartar sauce.

          Nicolas Cage's performance as Dave Spritz is head on; he captures perfectly the depression and anger of his character as he fails at just about every facet of his life. All Spritz wants is the approval of his father, but even he realizes that most people recognize and even resent that he is rewarded heavily for basically doing nothing. He doesn't even predict the weather; he just reads it off a teleprompter in front of a green screen.

          Michael Caine plays the wise father. His career and his personal life were both more successful than his son's, but he is still there to guide him and to be the loving father he is. In one terrific scene involving coffee and a newspaper, Robert advises his son to carry more than a dollar around in his wallet, 'you're a man,” he says. In another, he passes along the advice, 'Do you know that the harder thing to do, and the right thing to do, are usually the same thing? "Easy" doesn't enter into grown-up life,” which inspires Dave to drag his daughter through a sack race, unbeknownst to him, with a torn ACL and MCL, saying, 'There's a lesson here.”

          This is an exceedingly entertaining film. Yes, at times it's a downer, but it's also hilarious at parts and touching at others. Gore Verbinski, who last directed Pirates of the Caribbean, does a tremendous job fusing humor with drama. The jokes are not simply inserted as an afterthought for comic relief, but they are fit snuggly into the overall tone of the picture. In one of the funniest scenes of the movie, Cage narrates the inner workings of the male mind as he's on his way to pick up dinner—the fateful tartar sauceless trip that ended his marriage.

          Steve Conrad's script is slow paced, but it is never dull. His characters are delightfully quirky and well drawn out. Shelley's 'camel toe” issue is hilarious, and Dave's obsession with archery ('People don't throw things at me any more. Maybe because I carry a bow around.”) is brilliant. Spritz's son Mike's story line may be a little bit too serious, but its resolution for provides a touching father son moment which is crucial to the film.

Conrad's screenplay transfers to the screen with many qualities of an independent movie. Verbinski provides several memorable shots to capture Conrad's characters, and the silence between the dialogue at many points turns out to be as well written as the dialogue itself.

The Bottom Line is that The Weather Man is a superb black comedy. Conrad and Verbinski develop outstanding characters, and Cage's performance is one of his best… even without the vintage mannerisms. Dave Spritz' life is like a train wreck… and this is one you won't be able to take your eyes off of.