Review of The Weather Man (2005) by Matthew P — 06 May 2013

The Weather Man is a depressing little dramedy starring Nicolas Cage as a weatherman whose personal life is in shambles even though his professional one couldn't be going better. Like the weather, Cage's character has to learn that life is unpredictable, and he can't really sway it in any direction. He can only guess at which way it will turn, and prepare for the most likely of scenarios. There's your life lesson right off the bat, and you didn't even have to watch Nic Cage mope around for a couple of hours to learn it. Congratulations.

This isn't to say that watching The Weather Man would be a poor use of your time. In fact, it's quite the engaging movie, one that can remind you how subtle an actor Nicolas Cage has the potential to be. It has a message, it's made with skill, and it has good performances. The plot is sometimes unpredictable, and the whole thing is both funny and upsetting. All in all, yes, I believe that it's worth seeing, even if I wasn't completely sold on it.

David Spritz (Cage) is the main character, the titular weatherman. He is currently separated from his wife, Noreen (Hope Davis), and children, Mike (Nicholas Hoult) and Shelly (Gemmenne de la Peña). He has never been able to live up to the expectations that he believes his father (Michael Caine) has placed upon him, and now his father's time has come: he has lymphoma and will die in a matter of months. He also gets random food items thrown at him while he walks the streets. The only positive thing he has going for him is that he makes $240k a year for doing two hours of work a day, and is possibly going to be offered the job at Hello America, which would make him over $1 million dollars each year.

This is not a certainty, however, and with a son on probation after being caught with marijuana, a ten-year-old daughter who smokes, swears, and wishes nothing less than to spend time with him, and a wife who is now seeing someone else and wants nothing to do with the man who fathered her two children, he's not exactly what you could call "happy.".

He is not a truly sympathetic character, however. You can understand his situation and how badly is, quite frankly, sucks, but he's too complex a man to simply be the victim. He's a jerk to most people, he doesn't seem to care too much about his kids, and he rarely seems to actually try to improve his personal life. He makes more than enough money to get by and is therefore fine, I suppose. He has some sympathetic traits -- many of which are explained through Cage's narration and not through the story -- but he's a figure needing redemption. It's that kind of movie.

There are some funny moments in The Weather Man. Most of these points come from dialogue scenes -- situational comedy isn't what this movie aims for. However, more prominent than the comedy is the dark, dank and downright depressive parts to the film. The lymphoma, a possible child rapist, the entire personal life of our protagonist -- this is all unenjoyable, not terribly funny stuff, and it's what will leave more of an impact on you than any of the humor.

The ending doesn't have much closure, and while it has its character (or perhaps this is just the audience, not David) learn something, "maybe," it's inconclusive. The progress that we expect hasn't been made; really the only major change is that people no longer throw stuff at him on the street -- which might not be because of anything he's learned or any progress he has made in his personal life. It's more of a message for the audience, not for the character. You'll take more away from it than David will.

Nicolas Cage is more known for his eccentric, more over-the-top roles, but here he's very subdued, and effective in the dramatic role. I almost wish he'd strike more of a balance between roles like this and those more eccentric performances, although the latter is so much fun that this wish is so hard to make. Michael Caine is effective, too, as a very passive father-figure. The kids are typical child actors. They're not very good, and they're more often annoying than anything else.

Where the film fails is in its sense of tone. It's just too bleak and depressing for most viewers -- even those, like me, who enjoy depressing movies. It doesn't have a strong enough mixture of comedy and drama, and it also beats the dank moments so hard that they're the only thing you can remember. This doesn't really make it bad, but it's an easy turn-off for a lot of people, and I could easily see it not being worth seeing for the majority of potential viewers. It's a strong character piece, but its lack of enjoyability makes it a very tough watch.

The Weather Man is a bleak, depressing movie about a man whose personal life is in turmoil, but whose professional life is soaring. He's a man worthy of redemption, and while he might not necessarily get it, the lesson will be given strongly to the audience. By the end of watching it, assuming you can make it to the anticlimactic finish, you will have learned more than anyone in the film. That's fine, but it's a tough watch to sit through, and it's really tough to recommend as a result.