The Weather Man

Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man is a tough movie to talk about. Is very minimalist, with small performances, real situations but there's nothing super big happening. What does happen is the great acting, sharp writing courtesy of Steve Conrad, and many laugh out loud scenes perfectly contrasted by the down to Earth dramatic turns.

Nicolas Cage, one of my favorite actors since forever, stars as David Spritz, a Chicago TV weather man who is a marvel on camera but a disaster in his private life. He kind of knows it, and wants to do everything he can to make things better for him, but mostly for his family. He wants make things work with his ex wife, help his daughter with her image, but most importantly, make his father proud of him, so it's his chance when he gets a chance to go to New York to work for Bryant Gumbell's Good Morning, America. The problem is that he would have to leave his family behind, and his father too, who during the movie gets word that he's got only a few more months to live.
There's excellent work by Cage here, very good with the depressive tone, a very normal portrayal, and very different from the usual man with a million ticks like he usually plays. I haven't heard any buzz on this movie or his performance, and the movie was even moved from earlier this year and is just being released now with very little promotion but I believe that this is an Award worthy performance. At least a comedic nod at the Golden Globes since these kind of movies that are both a drama and a comedy tend to be taken as comedies. But really, there's one scene in particular between David, his father and Bob Seger's Like a Rock, that is truly great acting from Cage.
And I have to comment on the whole fast food throwing thing. It's funny, because he's recognized every once and a while, and people ask him for an autograph, but he doesn't want to sign anything and treats those people bad, and then he gets mad when other people throw food at him. This could look like product placement but it really isn't, as its part of the story, and pretty much all the fast food chains are involved. The parts when David has to explain his father, who doesn't know anything about fast food, what each item is are really good.

His father is Robert Spritzel (David changed his last name to make it more TV friendly) and is played by Sir Michael Caine. Robert is a Pulitzer winner, very respected, and he loves his son, though is very hard to tell. And he cares for the rest of the family too, as he is the one who makes David take a better look at his daughter. Caine is great as always. A lot of low key, simplistic acting, but very effective.
Hope Davis plays David's ex wife Noreen, who still would like to make things work with David, but at the same time she's pretty much done with him, and judging by what we can between them, and a few backflashes, you can understand why.
And then the kids, About a Boy's Nicholas Hoult is Mike and Gemmenne de la Pena is Shelly. Mike is a troubled teen, currently finishing rehab because he was caught with pot. He's friends with Don (played by Ally McBeal's Gil Bellows), his rehab counselor who may have one or two creepy ideas for Mike. The way this is handled towards the end is different and really well pulled off.
The story with Shelly is funnier but more tragic than Mike's, and even though she doesn't really know, she's miserable. Robert tells David that Shelly's classmates call her 'camel toe' and anything with that idea could've been handled as a very lowbrow comedy bit but David takes it seriously, and tries to help. This leads him to spend a lot of time with his daughter, buy her new clothes and even retaking archery lessons, which David will then really embrace.

Besides Cage's acting, what's best about the movie is the script by Conrad. Surprisingly, is an original one, but it really looks like an adaptation. The dialogue and happenings and the relationships are extremely well written. Gore Verbinski's work behind the camera with cinematographer Phedon Papamichael make for a great view of the cold and gray Chicago in the winter. The Weather Man is a movie doesn't look interesting, it happened to me when I first heard about it, but once you are watching it, and if you put at least a little bit of interest on these rich characters and storyline, you'll be more than satisfied, and if you are like me, maybe end up loving it.