(Credit: Amazon.com)
Directed by
Gore Verbinski
Cast:
Nicolas Cage …. David Spritz
Michael Caine …. Robert Spritz
Hope Davis …. Noreen
Gemmenne de la Peña …. Shelly
Nicholas Hoult …. Mike
Michael Rispoli …. Russ
Gil Bellows …. Don
Judith McConnell …. Lauren
Chris Marrs …. DMV Guy
Dina Facklis …. Andrea
DeAnna N.J. Brooks …. Clerk
Sia A. Moody …. Nurse (as Sia Moody)
Guy Van Swearingen …. Nipper Guy
Alejandro Pina …. Fast Food Employee
Jackson Bubala …. Fast Food Child
The Movie:
Even though he won the Oscar for 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas, it’s the quirkier roles that Nicholas Cage excels at. His dramatic personas in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Windtalkers seemed forced and distant, where as films such as Matchstick Men, Adaptation, and even Face/Off show the actor in a light that allows him to make full use of his talents. This is the Nicholas Cage that first caught our attention in Raising Arizona and made us really like him for the first time. These characters were flawed but very likable, as opposed to the totally broken paramedic in Bringing out the Dead, or the boring car thief in Gone in 60 Seconds. Perhaps it’s because in his quirkier side, we see more of who Nicholas Cage actually is.
With The Weather Man, Cage gives us a character with plenty of quirk. The actor plays David Spritz, a weather man for a huge Chicago network station. Outwardly, he should be completely happy. He does little work for a great amount of money, he gets all the women he wants, and he’s got a tryout for a national morning program coming up. Unfortunately, inwardly he’s a big mess. He’s great at his job, but it isn’t very satisfying, his family is falling apart, and his father is dying.
To say this is the perfect type of role for Nicholas Cage is an understatement. For an actor who took the last name of a Marvel Superhero to avoid comparison with his Godfather-directing uncle, its funny to see him play a character that changes his name from Spritzell to Spritz to make it catchier and avoid comparison with his Pulitzer Prize winning Father. But Spritz’s screen persona is part of the problem. It’s all anyone knows of him. He’s the happy guy that comes on at six o’clock to let them know to bundle up for the next few days. Nobody knows the single parent who can’t help his kids and can’t help but screw up his relationship with his ex-wife when he wants to make things right with her. No one sees the son trying to live up to his cherished father, who thinks he’s a bit of a failure and can’t understand why people throw junk food at him all the time.
It’d be easy to pigeonhole The Weather Man in with films such as American Beauty and Garden State where a character reaches a crisis and then slowly puts his/her life back together, but its not really as simple as that. The film is somber up to a fault, as there isn’t really a moment when the main character has a catharsis and turns his life around. He simply wades through the highs and lows of life, just like the weather. In fact, most of the time he fails, but he does keep trying.
The Weather Man is a big step up for Director Gore Verbinski, whose big hits The Ring and Pirates of the Carribean may have thrilled us, but never really moved us at all. The Weather Man on the other hand is quite moving in places, even though it doesn’t quite reach the heights it was hoping for. Even so, the director brings a particular melancholy and aboslutely bizarre images at times to the picture that gives it just the right mood.
The entire supporting cast is wonderful here, but in particular Michael Caine as David’s father Robert Spritzell, and Hope Davis as David’s ex-wife Noreen. Caine brings a quiet, but commanding screen presence to his role, just as you’d expect. His character doesn’t understand his son at all and can’t quite come up with why his son’s life has been fraught with failure when his has been so successful. He’s dying and wants to make this one element of his life right to some degree before he goes.
Hope Davis, whose major roles so far have also been pretty quirky in films such as About Schmidt, American Splendor has what should have been a real breakout role. Here, she doesn’t have to be mousy or weird, but just plays a woman trying to raise her children despite an ex-husband seems to be sleepwalking through their life. Its amazing how the film is juggle the fact that Noreen has left David, and while you root for Spritz to reconcile with his wife, its completely justified if she won’t go back to him.
Despite the fact that the film isn’t quite a masterpiece, The Weather Man is a solid picture with memorable performances. Cage should try and stick to this kind of picture instead of hurting his reputation with overproduced Action films or hollow dramatic work. With this type of film, we root for his characters as we get to see more of ourselves in them and want them to succeed. The Weather Man is a great addition to his career even if it’s not a totally great film.
Score: 8.0/10
The DVD:
The Video
The print here is beautiful to look at, bringing out Phedon Papamichael’s beautiful cinematography. The film is presented in an Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
The Audio
The sound here is also very good. Everything works well and you never have a hard time discerning dialogue over the background noise. The sound track is in Dolby Digital 5.1.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 5 Featurettes, Theatrical Trailer, Other Previews
Extended Outlook: The Script – This is a ten minute look at Steve Conrad’s interesting script and how it was floating around for a while before it was actually put into production. Producers and Gore Verbinski gush over the screenplay, which is one of the film’s strong suits.
Atmospheric Pressure: The Style and Palette – This Featurette looks at the work of Phedon Papamichael and Gore Verbinski in created the look and mood for the film. The film does a lovely job of making Chicago look like it should; a cold behemoth of a town. It’s the perfect choice to place this film.
Forecast: Becoming a Weatherman – This is a nice look at the lengths the film went to, to make Nicholas Cage look like a credible weatherman. It features the weatherman from Superstation WGN in Chicago, who was used as a creative consultant on the film.
Relative Humidity: The Characters – This runs nearly 20 minutes and is a look at eachof the principle characters of the Spritz family from the children, Shelly and Mike (Gemmenne de la Peña and Nicholas Hoult) to David, Noreen and Robert. The Featurette goes over the different facets of each characters life and how it relates to this story.
Trade Winds: The Collaboration – This goes over how the principles worked on screen together. The chemistry between the cast is one of main reasons the film works.
Trailers – There’s a decent selection of trailers on the disc from various
Score: 5.5/10
