12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I liked it, but that's just my opinion, October 30, 2005
This was another tricky review for "The Rotten Review". "Weather Man" isn't a comedy or a tragedy, yet it dips deeply into each. I enjoyed it, but it's a flick that will likely divide even intelligent moviegoers who want a respite from "Doom" on one side and "North Country" on the other.
Nicholas Cage is Dave Spritz, "The Weatherman". Though apparently successful giving the weather for Chicago viewers, his life is a wreck. Everybody seems to hate him - the kindest seem to have no respect for him. Though making over $300 grand a year for a job with few time demands, Spritz leads a painful existence. His virtually ex-wife (Hope Davis) hates him, and is planning to start a new life with a puffy jerk named Russ who seems about as attentive to her needs as Spritz himself; his daughter is blankly detached and overweight - all of Spritz's attempts to bond with her end in disaster. Spritz's son, Mike, is in rehab for some vaguely unspecified blow-out - but his counselor has some creepily predatory ideas about the boy. Then there's Spritz's father - played by Michael Caine, Robert Spritzel is a prize-winning author with whom Spritz has never bonded. Spritz had hopes of being a novelist as well, but could barely craft a workable story, let alone escape his father's shadow. The old man could never pass on his talent, and now he's dying of lymphoma. Spritz has only his job to ennoble and enable him - but even that just exposes him to a larger audience of abuse, with Spritz repeatedly targeted by people with unwanted fast-food. (During the course of the flick, Cage is pelted by total strangers with burritos, coffee, milkshakes and, at one point, falafel.) People hate him, or love to think nasty things of him. Worse - Spritz can't even think coherently lauditory things about those he loves. Asked to give a speech about his father, Spritz starts off comparing him to the Bob Seeger song "Like a Rock" - mercifully, the power shorts out before he can further than that. In short, money aside, Spritz is a man slowly becoming undone.
Watching "Weather Man", you'll probably spend most of your time wondering what kind of movie this is. Spritz's predicament is tragic, yet the story doesn't quite bring you to tears. There are moments which are almost hysterically funny, yet "Weather Man" isn't a comedy either - it doesn't try to make Spritz its punchline. Most of the laughs are of the ironic kind (if you saw "Sideways", think of the runaway-Saab scene, or the angry maitre'd from "Punch Drunk Love".) but they work. The script doesn't try to make too much sense of itself - it's never clear how Spritz and his wife ever had any relationship given how much she hates him, or what brought them to go at each other's throats. (Why Spritz's wife seems eager to replace him with a guy who seems about as worthwhile as Spritz was, is only another of the flick's enigmatic touches.)
Yet "Weather Man" has its own magic for those willing to give it a chance. Nick Cage works some real pathos out of the shallow Spritz, and creates an unforgettable character out of a facile TV personality utterly clueless to the mysteries of the wind. Set in a Chicago seemingly trapped in an endless winter, and the lakes are coated with slabs of ice - the setting mirrors Spritz's soul. Spritz himself is frozen, willing to stick with winter rather than face a new and warm season in which his wife will start a new life without him, and in which his father will be dead. I can't call it a thinking-man's comedy, because you don't have to be an idiot to hate it. Instead, it's that rare dish of comedy that must be served cold.
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Almost Excellent Movie, November 7, 2005
This is a quasi arthouse film with famous actors. Alone worth watching for Michael Caine's performance. The lack of a major climatic moment is in itself part of the story. Chicago in winter: satire, anti-utopia, inverted worlds, cold and indifferent? Is Dave a Zen Archer/ Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans/ Robin Hood?
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35 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nicolas Cage is the Weather Man, February 10, 2006
This a film that I didn't expect to make me feel anything.When I saw the trailer I thought this was a clear comedy.It's not.Its 80% drama and the rest comedy.
Here we follow David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) and trying reconfigure his life.He try's not to lose control of his life and reconnect with his wife Noreen (Hope Davis) and try to connect and bond with his children and impress his father.Its a touching story of man whose flawed as we are all and that makes mistakes but means well.Its story that really feels real to how sometimes relationships between people go and are.Also the ending of the film ends with a real ending instead of classic Hollywood happy ending.Not that the ending is sad but its realistic.
The film directed by Gore Verbinski.The film shows how diverse and quite talented he is as a directed.He has directed a horror film The Ring,a semi comedy The Mexican,an adventure Pirates Of The Caribbean and now The Weather Man.This film felt more like The Ring.Now you will be asking yourself what in common did this have to The Ring.Well ill tell you its not on the topic of the film.Its not horror element.But the look of the film.Both films are dark and grainy with rainy and cloudy days that create a great atmosphere for the characters.Also the second in common is that turns back to little bit more small budget films then the big extravaganza of Pirates Of The Caribbean.All his films have been successful and loved by critics and audiences so his career for now looks its like going to be on the up and up with Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 coming up for him.
Also the second good part about this film is Nicolas Cage.When you need a great actor to play a weird character with flaws to add depth to it Nicolas is always the right choice.People have been saying its Terrence Howard's year with Hustle and Flow and Crash.But I also think its Nicolas Cage year as well.With Weather Man and Lord Of War he shows us that he is one of the best acting talents in cinema for me.And in my opinion he doesn't get enough credit sometimes.
The DVD will include an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track with a Relative Humidity: The Characters feature, a Trade Winds: The Collaboration feature, an Atmospheric Pressure: The Style feature and a theatrical trailer.From all the extras this film deserves at least a commentary by Gore Verbinski that were not going to get.Probably he is too busy with Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 to do a commentary.
I enjoyed this film.This was one of the nice surprises of the year well worth a look.Nicolas Cage and Gore Verbinkski bring a touching film to the screen that does try to fool us but just tell a sory on how life really is and that we don't get what we want all the time as much as we try and deserve it.
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