X
- 2005
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
- 2005
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
Summary Nicholas Cage stars as popular Chicago TV weatherman David Spritz who has a shot at the big time when "Hello America," a national morning show calls him for an audition. At the top of the world professionally, David is approaching disaster on a personal level as rapidly as the weather changes. His painful divorce, his dad's illness, and ...
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Written By: Steve Conrad
- 2005
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
- 2005
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
The Weather Man
61
8.4
Where to Watch
Summary Nicholas Cage stars as popular Chicago TV weatherman David Spritz who has a shot at the big time when "Hello America," a national morning show calls him for an audition. At the top of the world professionally, David is approaching disaster on a personal level as rapidly as the weather changes. His painful divorce, his dad's illness, and ...
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Written By: Steve Conrad
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
61
54% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
38% Mixed
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
8% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
61
54% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
38% Mixed
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
8% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
In The Weather Man, Nicolas Cage, a great oddball movie star who sometimes takes enormous risks, has a good, risky part again.
It works as an intriguingly offbeat character study while offering Nicolas Cage a chance to show why he used to be considered one of the top actors of his generation.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 155 User Ratings
8.4
81% Positive
125 Ratings
125 Ratings
12% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
8% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 155 User Ratings
8.4
81% Positive
125 Ratings
125 Ratings
12% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
8% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
The Weather Man is more than entertainment. It is reflections of the life of a weather as his life crumbles around him. His life starts off low then gets lower but through endless struggles of trying to impress his Pulitzer prize winning father and to mend his broken relationship. His career however looks like it might save him as tries desperately to become a national weather man. Overall very uplifting and it might have changed the way I view the world. Do not watch for light entertainment. This movie may answer the question of the meaning of life.
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The director, Gore Verbinski, would seem to be an odd man for this material, but he and Steven Conrad hold their ground, sticking to their conviction that Dave's story should play as a belated-coming-of-age movie.
Screenwriter Steve Conrad has less success with the female characters: The always dependable Davis is forced into shrewish territory, and David's mother (Judith McConnell) is so barely present that it's a wonder she's written in at all.
The movie mostly proves that cutting-edge humiliations are best absorbed in 25-minute segments on HBO.
The Weather Man belongs to a school of earnest, artsy Hollywood flicks that includes the Michael Douglas-goes-bonkers "Falling Down," and a lineage that goes back to revered 1970s pics like "Five Easy Pieces."
Meet American Beastly, perhaps the most bitter studio film of the year.
Recently noticed that this was one of the top streaming selections on Netflix -- seven years after it came out. So I think my sense that this would be a sleeper has been vindicated. After four viewings it is still laugh out loud funny, largely because of the usual passion Cage brings to the part. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the movie is that Spritz, bedeviled by his sense of mediocrity, is actually the least complacent character in a sea of dreary mediocrities. (Pulitzer Prize? Please. Does his estranged wife with the big sad house write sci-fi novels? What about her new blob of a suitor?) I think Ebert had it right -- this is a film about a person who thinks that the standard American measures of success are bunk. But he can't escape from the shadow of his menacing father, who, to his credit, admits in the final scenes that his "like a rock" life hasn't been worth as much as his son thinks it might have.
The film has its false notes -- the creepy counselor scenes and the whole "camel toe" excursion -- but on the whole there's something transcendent about it.
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This movie just seemed to lack oomph. What was it all about? Is the Weather Man some kind of putz? He is clueless about his family, his parents, his abilities, the only thing he is good at is being in front of the TV camera. Is that the point of this movie, that those people can be clueless as Joe on the street?
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The Weather Man is a decidedly average film, but does present many strengths. Hyper realistic with great and relatable characters, the film really hits home quite often. Nicolas Cage, Hope Davis, and Michael Caine, are all great in their respective roles and, much like the film itself, bring a human quality to their characters. The writing is also very good and the direction from Gore Verbinski is solid, all winding up with a top-notch character study. However, what truly hurts this one, is the main character. Though realistic and relatable, he is entirely too easy to hate to the point that when things go well for him, we do not care. When things go poorly, we feel he deserves it. This may be the point, but it makes it tough to enjoy a film when you hate the protagonist. Honestly, serial killer and mob movies have more likable people as the protagonists than this one. Despite this, as I said, The Weather Man is decidedly average on a wholistic level, but does bring a lot of quality to the table and was quite an easy watch and never drifted into boredom territory, in large part thanks to its honest and realistic approach to its characters.
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the issues that were piled upon..
The Weather Man
The Weather Man is a plot driven comic drama about a dysfunctional family and the dysfunctional protagonist that attempts to make things better. Yes, it is hilarious. And none of the sketchy sequences are forcibly imputed they blend in aptly with the storytelling and lightens things down. But the rest of it relies upon emotional drama that unfortunately fails to communicate where the performance isn't on trial but its familiar structure, cliched screenplay and typical quirky characters. The chemistry between Cage and her daughter doesn't go as anticipated (don't get it wrong, it's good, it's sweet) in fact if anything that bounces back in, it's the relationship between Caine and Cage that works on merit of performance and nothing else. The background score is almost non-existent, cinematography is daft along with editing and camera work that only is successful on offering the palpable cold environment to the audience. What it aces on, is the weaving of all the bickerings among characters that is done with such nuance that it draws out laughs easily from you. Cage's thoughts are also real gem as they are more practical, and resembles a lot with the audience as it fiddles with mutual things a lot. Cage's portrayal is subtle and complex to the core and gets a decent support from Caine's sane character whilst Davis fails to live up to it. The primary reason why it doesn't work, is its solution to all the issues that were piled upon, they aren't executed cinematically by Verbinski for it to offer the anticipated glorifying experience. Few hilarious gags, the flamboyant screenplay and Cage's emotionally attached to this bubble are the high points of the feature. The Weather Man is a feature you wouldn't want to explore and frankly will neither remember after leaving the screen.
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