tjm225

I was persuaded by my brother to see this film. I wanted to see another one but since he was visiting I agreed with his choice, and was surprised to find myself liking the film very much. OK, the script could be a little better, but the direction and acting were very good, even down to the supporting players such as the actors who portrayed the two NYC cops who assist the main character, Interpol agent Sallinger (Clive Owens), once the story moved to NYC. What I particularly liked was the way the story was told cinematically rather than through a lot of verbose dialogue. It seemed to me like a Bourne thriller for adults. No kinetic hand-held camera action, but smooth visually appealing cinematic exposition the way Hitchcock did it in his prime. Even the closing credits were used effectively to give a rather downbeat dénouement to the film.

In short, an entertaining movie that alleviated the February blues.

I've been complaining to my family and friends about the dearth of good movies lately, something an intelligent adult can watch and enjoy. Well, this is a very good movie. I picked it up on election day to make use of the dead time in the early evening hours before the significant returns began to come in. I became so engrossed in this moody suspenseful thriller that I momentarily forgot about the important issues of the day, and, for me, it was very pleasant to take such a break from reality. The other reviews in this forum lay out the plot and texture of this excellent film. To me the film was simply good storytelling, good writing, good direction and good acting all coming together for two hours of enjoyable entertainment.

All fiction is about the suspension of disbelief, but sometimes the divide between the real world and the created fiction is such a chasm that even those with noble purpose fail. And that IMHO is what is wrong with this movie.

The protagonist, a smiley-faced TV weather man named Dave Spritz (Nicholas Cage), is presented as a hapless soul who somehow, despite no really striking abilities, is very successful at earning a living, but is completely unable at understanding or accepting himself, and, as a consequence, is not able to be successful at being a good husband, father and son, although he desperately desires to be all three.

The script gives Spritz all the accouterments of upper middle class success including a big suburban home in which his ex-wife and children live, a trendy Chicago apartment for himself, and some quirks: a 14 year old son with a drug problem who is being hit on by his pedophile counselor, and a 12 year old daughter who is seriously overweight and bored with life. The ex-wife is is an attractive but bland individual with an equally bland boyfriend/fiancée. Spritz also has a kind but judgmental father, a famous writer, who is dying of cancer.

The drama centers around Spritz coming to an epiphany of sorts by accepting the mediocrity of himself and his life while at the same time pursuing a lucrative new job as the weatherman on a New York morning show. Along the way he learns archery, accepts the fact that he will never be a writer like his father, and gets sloshed by a lot of fast food thrown at him on the street by less than adoring fans.

There is no Hollywood ending, but this is nevertheless a Hollywood movie in its striking lack of reality, depth and complexity in the characters and the situations it creates. If you are going to make a downer of a movie, at least make it more interesting.