The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: reviews, release date and everything we know about the Nicolas Cage movie

Tiffany Haddish Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Tiffany Haddish and Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Image credit: Karen Ballard/Lionsgate)

It’s possible that no one has as much fun in Hollywood as Nicolas Cage. Well he’s getting another chance to make that case as he plays a fictionalized version of himself in the new movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

This new action comedy is expected to be a fun addition to the lineup of new 2022 movies, and fans are certainly excited about what’s in store:

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Here is everything we know about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

When is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent release date?

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is premieres exclusively in movie theaters on April 22 in the US, UK and most other international territories. This follows the movie having its first showing at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 12.

The exclusive movie theater release of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent of course means that it will not be available for streaming/digital right away. At this time there is no information on when the movie will make its way online, but we’ll keep you updated as that information becomes available.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent reviews — what are the critics saying? 

Critics have been praising The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent so far, as it is earning some of the best reviews of any movie in 2022 so far. As of April 19, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has earned a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 74 on Metacritic. IndieWire dubbed it "one of the funniest movies of the year."

What to Watch's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review describes the movie as "absolutely ridiculous, in the best possible way."

What is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent plot?

Some movie fans may be perfectly satisfied with just watching Nicolas Cage play Nicolas Cage for an entire movie, but The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent does have a plot to keep things moving along. Here is the official synopsis:

"Nicolas Cage stars as... Nick Cage in the action-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones. With a career built for this very moment, the seminal award-winning actor must take on the role of a lifetime: Nick Cage." 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent trailer

You watch both the official red band trailer and teaser for The Unbearable Weight of Massive of Talent directly below:

Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Even though Nicolas Cage hasn’t ever really gone away from making movies, his reputation as an actor has been having a bit of a resurgence recently. 

After being one of the biggest movie stars in the world in the '90s with movies like Con Air, Face/Off, The Rock and his Oscar-winning role in Leaving Las Vegas, for a lot of the latter parts of 2000s and throughout the 2010s Cage gained a bit of reputation for taking on strange projects. Sometimes these choices would turn out to be critically panned movies like a remake of The Wicker Man, other times they would be new cult favorites like Mandy.

In 2021, Cage starred in Pig, which became a surprise hit and garnered some of his best reviews in years. Will that continue with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent?

It’s always fun to see performers go meta and that should be especially true for an actor like Cage, who fully commits to his roles and often makes incredibly unique choices that prove instantly memorable.

Who else is in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent cast?

Jacob Scipio Pedro Pascal in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Jacob Scipio and Pedro Pascal in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Image credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate)

Starring alongside Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is Pedro Pascal as Javi Gutierrez, the man who hires Cage to appear at his birthday party. Pascal broke out on Game of Thrones but has even more success with the Star Wars original series The Mandalorian. He has also recently appeared in Wonder Woman 1984 and The Bubble. He also is set to star in the TV adaptation of the popular video game series The Last of Us.

Also on board the movie are Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz and Neil Patrick Harris. Haddish and Barinholtz, who actually recently starred with each other in the Apple TV Plus original series The Afterparty, are playing the CIA operatives who recruit Cage. Harris (The Matrix Resurrections) is playing Cage’s agent.

The rest of the cast includes Sharon Horgan, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio and Lily Sheen.

Who is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent director?

Tom Gormican is handling directing duties for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, for which he also served as a co-writer. Gormican’s previous credits include writing and directing the 2014 romantic comedy That Awkward Moment with Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller and Mackenzie Davis. He also was the creator and writer for the sitcom Ghosted with Adam Scott and Craig Robinson. 

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.