The Weather Man

I saw a screening of this tonight, and I was very impressed. I expected a rather shallow comedy, but instead, received a well-thought out and delivered work which was insightful, quirky, funny and touching film which was far above my expectations. Cage delivers a great performance as usual, and the father-son relationship between Cage and Caine was authentic and balanced. This is not just a comedy, but is a study of the importance of family, and an overlying existential questioning of what our lives are all about. I highly recommend it for men and women alike. On a side note... Verbinski's works are diverse, fun, and interesting, and this is no exception.

At first, it would seem that The Weather Man doesn't have a point to make. We follow David Spritz as his life falls apart around him, and it would seem like that's all the film is. By the ending; we do get a defining point, and while Gore Verbinski hammers it home a little too hard for it to be as effective as it could have been; it's a good point and gives credence to a thoroughly enjoyable little film. This is a pretty big change of pace from the big budgeted kids' films that Verbinski has been making recently, and his approach to this far more low key film is sombre and relaxed, and The Weather Man benefits from that. The plot focuses on the difference between one man's personal and working life. At work, he is a successful weather man, who's been headhunted by a bigger network. But in his private life, he's estranged from his wife; his kids aren't exactly top of the class and just to top it all off, every time he steps onto the street, fast food gets thrown at him! Spiralling downwards, his life is approaching collapse; and he must choose between his family and a big salary in New York.

Nicolas Cage takes the lead role, and while he's never really stretched; he manages to give a fine performance throughout the film. In support, we've got the likes of Michael Caine and Hope Davis, as well as talented youngster Gemmenne de la Peña, who all round the acting off nicely. The film manages to pull together two very different tones and make it work. There's some rather funny humour on display, and this is mixed with an overall pessimistic mindset. This gives The Weather Man something of an original standpoint, and although it has to be said that the plot itself is never overly interesting, the tone of the movie is good enough to see it through. From mainstream cinema; especially American mainstream cinema, you don't expect to see films with such a depressing viewpoint on life - but it really doesn't get much more depressing than the one professed here. Verbinski's film states that, like the weather, life cannot be predicted - and no matter what hopes and dreams you have, they're likely to be smashed by the time it comes to realising them. Ouch.

Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean X3, The Ring, The Mexican) has an uncanny way of moving strange characters through bizarre plots while maintaining our interest and our empathy. THE WEATHER MAN was so poorly promoted when it hit the theaters that it seemed like it was going to be one of those asinine food throwing slapstick comedies instead of the very serious examination of contemporary life in the big cities, or even more about the struggle of a disillusioned man who cannot find a balance between business success and family/marital failure, it is. This viewer almost ignored it completely - until the DVD.

David Spritz (Nicholas Cage) is a TV pawn the station uses as a weatherman: he is untrained as a meteorologist, skilled only be his TV persona success dependent on a created gag/tag line - the Nipper (the peak worst day in the forecast). His personal life is a mess, separated from a disconsolate wife Noreen (Hope Davis), distanced from his successful writer father Robert (Michael Caine) and on shaky territory with his two children - fat and sad Sully (Gemmenne de la Peña) and sweet but troubled pothead Mike (Nicholas Hoult). To make life worse his TV persona follows him into the streets of blustery Chicago where his viewers either seek autographs invading his privacy or throw food at him as the progenitor of the lousy cold weather. This polarized existence is invaded by an offer to become weatherman on Bryan Gumbel's Hello America show in New York (a career jump for which he longs for many reasons), serial confrontations with his father whom he emulates but always feels a failure, the finding that his father has lymphoma, the ridicule of fat Shelly at school, Mike's edgy involvement with his drug counselor Don (Gil Bellows), and Noreen's new live-in Russ (Michael Rispoli). How David meanders through this quagmire of dilemmas is the story and while it is not pretty, it is pungent.

Cage inhabits the strange role of David finding a way to make this loser with a short temper someone about whom we care. It is a tough assignment but Cage meets it on every level. Michael Caine provides some of the more eloquent moments in the film: his words of wisdom and view of life are the only grounded elements of the story. Likewise Hope Davis is fine as are the cameo roles of the children as sensitively played by de la Peña and Hoult. The subject of the film is tough and the excessive use of potty mouth language is overbearing and at times one wishes Verbinski would have edited some of the gross food slinging scenes.

But as an overall message movie there is much here to admire. It simply is not the mindless slapstick the posters and trailers would indicate. The PR folks on this one blew it. Worth your time and attention. Grady Harp

In Chicago, Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is the weatherman of the local TV news loved and loathed by the audiences. He is successful in his career making US$ 240,000.00 per year in spite of not having degree in meteorology. However, his personal life is a complete mess: he is a frustrated writer divorced from his wife Noreen (Hope Davis) but he still likes her and wishes to have her back and their marriage work; his sixteen year-old son Mike (Nicholas Hoult) is in rehabilitation for using pot; his clumsy and fat daughter Shelly (Gemmenne de la Peña) is constantly humiliated at school by her mates and pejoratively called "camel-toe"; his father Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine) is a distant perfectionist writer and Dave tries to prove his own value to him. When Dave is invited for a test in a national network in New York, his father informs that he has cancer. While trying to resolve his problems and frustrations, Dave grows-up and reaches the necessary maturity to manage the complexities of life.

"The Weather Man" is a weird and pessimist view of the contemporary American Way of Life. The complex and contradictory lead character is capable of making lots of money just because he can perfectly sell his image to the public without having knowledge about what he is talking; inclusive he is frustrated, feels shallow and compares himself to a fast-food. But he is unsuccessful to have the right attitudes with his family in spite of his best efforts and needy to prove his father his own merits. However, the story is pointless and boring in some moments and in the end I found this movie only reasonable, but with a great potential not well explored by the director. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Sol de Cada Manhã" ("The Sun of Each Morning")

I can already tell that people are going to have very strong reactions to The Weather Man. People are either going to love it or hate it. They're going to find it shockingly hilarious or just plain shocking. I loved it and found it hilarious, but I'm not easily offended (I do a show with Jegar, how can anything offend me?). There were many instances where I was the only person laughing in the theater. For instance, Michael Caine, who plays Robert Spritz, tells his son David Spritz (played by Nicolas Cage) that David's daughter is getting teased at school and called "Camel Toe". Just to hear Sir Michael Caine use the expression "camel toe" is pretty unexpected. But then various shots of camel toes pop up on the screen to illustrate this phenomenon to anyone in the audience who's unfamiliar with the concept. I found it all absurdly hilarious, but I don't think many of the grey-haired audience shared my sentiments.

This movie was not at all like I was expecting. The Weather Man is crass and silly, but it's also extremely dark and sad. David Spritz is a sad, lonely man who's trying to reconcile with this ex-wife and get his family back together, but despite his best intentions, things just never work out the way he wants. More than anything, he wants to prove to his dying father that he can be a great man too, but time is running out. This is not your typical comedy. It's not easy to watch sometimes, but according to Robert Spritz, "Easy doesn't enter into grown-up life."