Review of The Weather Man (2005) by Chads. — 14 Nov 2005
"The Weather Man" is the most surprising change of pace from a filmmaker we had long since pigeonholed since The Weitz Brothers went literary and adapted Nick Hornsby's "About a Boy".
This surprisingly acerbic film is a little suggestive of what Todd Solondz would do if he went mainstream. Director Gore Verbinski should be commended for not casting out the naughty words as a means of securing that PG-13 rating.
"The Weather Man" makes better use of the "f"-word than any studio film in recent memory. What should be mentioned foremost about this very caustic movie is that it's a savage indictment against our culture.
David(Nicolas Cage) describes his job as being akin to fast food, and yet it's he, and not the father, who is arguably the success in the family, because nobody recognizes Robert Spritz(Michael Caine), the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Caine is absolutely brilliant as a writer who's not stereotypically a brusque, egomaniacal monster to his loved ones. He's the first person to recognize that Shelly(Gemmenne de la Pena) isn't happy.
The artist is almost never the most humane person in a film. In a wonderful scene, David takes Shelly shopping and improves her life by dressing the girl in clothes that's not self-defeating, and this is all stems from Robert taking an interest in his granddaughter's life.
This is Michael Caine's best performance. As for Nicholas Cage, we might finally have him back from his post-"Leaving Las Vegas" period.
This review of The Weather Man (2005) was written by Chads. on 14 Nov 2005.
The Weather Man has generally received positive reviews.
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