The Weather Man

Greetings again from the darkness. So Close. This is painfully close to being a great film. Although still very good at presenting issues normally not seen on film, director Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean" "The Ring") falls just short of making a very powerful statement.

Please do not let the trailer fool you. This is not slapstick comedy like "Anchorman". This is deep, often dark subject matter addressing the emotional struggles men face when dealing with a bad divorce, trying to maintain a relationship with kids, and the pressures of trying to make one's own dad proud (or at least gain acceptance). So often Hollywood deals with the plight of the woman and her emotional turmoil. Instead we are "treated" with watching a man's attempt to live up to (what he thinks are) expectations of others and how somehow the right job will make everything OK ... his life will be whole.

Nicolas Cage gives another outstanding performance as "The Weather Man" on a Chicago TV station. To add to the complexity, he is not a meteorologist and he is being courted by a national morning talk show featuring Bryant Gumbel. Two areas with this character are poorly written in my opinion. First, Cage's hair weave is bloody awful. At least in Dallas, weather men all look like Televangelists with perfect hair. His is always askew ... don't they have hair/make-up staff in Chicago? Second, the character is written as too much of a loser in all aspects. He is not just struggling, he is not someone any guy or girl would want to hang with. The film tries, but fails, to show the "switch" come on when Cage steps in front of the camera. They tell us this happens, but it needed to be presented much clearer.

Playing Cage's father, Michael Caine is a pretty intimidating figure as he is confused about his son's direction in life while at the same time facing a very dark future of his own. Caine is wonderful in the role and when he tells his son "Sometimes in life, you just have to chuck it", we really get it and hope that Cage does as well.

On the other hand, Hope Davis is cast as yet another frigid "B" yuppie whom I don't understand how any man could be attracted to. Yet somehow this is the woman Cage wants back. Time to stretch your talent a bit Hope. You showed plenty of promise in "About Schmidt" and have been working steadily since. But to take the next step as an actress, you need to try a new character. Gil Bellows ("Aly McBeal") has a creepy role as Cage's teenage son's counselor. He is responsible for some of the most uncomfortable moments as well as a way for Cage to finally cut loose.

As I said, this is a very good movie that falls just short of greatness. While providing insight into the male psyche, it fails to deliver the message or solution it seemed to be leading up to. However, it is nice to see a man portrayed as something other than a superhero, adulterer, international spy or Olympic caliber lover.

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."

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.

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")

When I first saw the advertisements for "The Weather Man", it seemed like the movie was going to be another formulaic, feel good Hollywood redemption tale. In reality, it is a dark, scathing satire of American values. The marketing likely scared away a lot of people who would enjoy the film, while attracting an audience who was presented with something unexpected and perhaps uncomfortable. The comedy is quite raunchy, the tone is bleak, and the story is anything but formulaic, throwing industry conventions right out the window, which leads to a film that's more believable than most.

David Spritz is a man whose life has become the ultimate exercise in futility. Each day, he wakes up and goes to a job that, despite paying a handsome salary, is entirely unfulfilling. His relationship with his ex-wife is strained, his relationship with his children distant. To make things worse, his Pulitzer Prize winning father seems to be disappointed in what David has done with his life.

In real life, progress in one's personal life is generally made in baby steps. Usually, people don't undergo a drastic transformation over the course of several months. David attempts to improve his standing in life, at times failing entirely, at times succeeding in small doses. The results of these attempts range from very funny to downright saddening, and this helps lend the film an air of realism. This is a complicated character study about a man coming to grips with the fact that he's failed to meet any of the goals he set for himself in life, despite attaining a social standing that many people are envious of. There aren't any easy answers or life altering epiphanies; self-improvement is a long, gradual task that will probably never be completely fulfilled, and "The Weather Man" reflects this reality. While not for all tastes, this movie deserves credit for tackling a relatively conventional subject in a very unconventional, at least for a mainstream Hollywood movie, manner. I imagine that this film will be a bigger success overseas and on DVD than it will be in its US theatrical run.