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Plot:
Popular Chicago weatherman, Dave Spirtz, has a shot at the big time when a national morning television show calls him for an audition. Professionally, Dave is on top of the world, but his personal lif...( read more 
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The Weather Man Recent Reviews
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 29, 2008Dave Spritz: "I remember once imagining what my life would be like, what I'd be like. I pictured having all these qualities, strong positive qualities that people could pick up on from across the room. But as time passed, few ever became any qualities that I actually had. And all the possibilities I faced and the sorts of people I could be, all of them got reduced every year to fewer and fewer. Until finally they got reduced to one, to who I am. And that's who I am, the weather man."
Clever and insightful movie on the subject of growing-up in upper middle class America. Dave Spritz, a weatherman without meteorological qualifications in Chicago, is confronted with his own rage that life hasn't proceeded as he had planned. A talented man who finds it difficult to see his own talent because he compares himself with his Pulitzer winning, distant father is at a low ebb. Not to mention that "fans" delight in recognizing him on the street and throwing food at him. The other problems in his life, an angry ex-wife, a daughter bullied at school and a son just leaving rehab don't help. And Spritz would really rather just think about sex. Through finding a hobby, connecting with his dying father and standing by his kids we see the character grow and become a hero.
Review
I have seen a few films with the same plot (A successful person struggles to keep in touch with his family and tries to catch up with them) but I think this one stands out from the rest. David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) has it all. A decent job, fame and a huge amount of salary. But what the public doesn't know is that the weather man they all see everyday has his own personal problems. His success and his personal life collides with each other that makes his life a miserable one. He doesn't want to be recognized, he gets the pies, falafel, shakes, tacos and other fast food stuff every time and people hates him. But why would people hate a person who predicts the weather? You might ask. Well, let's just say that some people are pretty shallow.
After seeing the film yesterday, I kept thinking that some famous people are much like Dave Spritz. Its all beauty on the outside but all bitter and horrid on the inside. Nicolas Cage gives an excellent performance (give him some credits Academy Awards!) and so is Michael Caine as his elegant, 18th Century-esquire, Pulitzer Prize winner father Robert Spritzel. Hope Davis as his argumentative wife gives a good portrayal too. -
MCT:August 5, 2008Good movie
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MCT:July 7, 2008Dave Spritz: Always fast food. Fast food. Things that people would rather throw out than finish. It's easy, it tastes all right, but it doesn't really provide you any nourishment. I'm fast food.
Nic Cage is great as the sad sack, loser weather man, and that's really what the movie is about, and it's nice to see him try to better himself, and I care when he does.
This is a fun dark comedy, with plenty of moments that ring true to life. The dialog between the characters, especially the swearing is all authentic and something that feels real for the moment.
This movie shares a lot with American Beauty, although not as deep or concurrent with the same themes, it has the same attitude.
As mentioned, Cage plays Dave Spirtz, a Chicago weatherman who is divorced with two kids and has a father he believes doesn't care too much for him. With a chance to get a good promotion, Dave wants to try harder at succeeding at life. This leads to a series of events involving archery, having fast food thrown at him, and cold weather.
Cage is very good here. Its always neat to see his character performances in between his seemingly endless bigger Hollywood movies, and dammit if I don't like his ever changing hair styles. Michael Caine also does a great job as Cage's upfront father.
Robert Spritzel: What happened to you?
Dave Spritz: I got hit with a Frosty.
Robert Spritzel: Why did you get hit with a Frosty?
Robert Spritzel: What is a Frosty?
Dave Spritz: It's a shake. From Wendy's.
Robert Spritzel: Why did you get hit with a shake?
Directed by Gore Verbinski, who I guess decided to take a break in between Pirate movies and do something more character based, he constructed the film with a neat sense of style, seemingly disguised as an indie flick, complete with a quirky and neat soundtrack.
This is an entertaining movie, that has a quirky sense of humor, made in the style of an independent film, despite the studio quality production and works very well due to Cage's strangely human character.
Dave Spritz: I mean, I'll bet no one ever threw a pie at, like Harriet Tubman, the founder of the Underground railroad. I'll bet you a million fucking dollars. -
MCT:March 23, 2008
I don't remember where my first hint of this film came from. I think it might have been on one of the days where I was watching trailers at random and the image of morose Nicolas Cage with frosty on his jacket just caught my eye. I'm pretty sure that, if nothing else, it was that image that drew me into the film. I saw the negative reviews start rolling in, and I know how much some people seem to hate Cage, so I just shrugged and did what I usually do with a non-genre movie that wanders in from the darkness. I ignored the theatrical release (due to repeated and seemingly incessant bad viewings, I only catch the odd movie theatrically) and waited to pick it up cheap on DVD (I don't rent, so this is the best solution). That opportunity arose and it waited around until tonight.
The movie opens to show us David Spritzel (Cage) looking at himself in the mirror and almost practicing a smile. He's a local weatherman in Chicago and gruffly brushes off the people who try to cheerfully connect with him, which we first see in a line at the DMV after Spritzel--who renamed himself "David Spritz" for television--finds a ticket for out of date tags on his car. He pretends not to be himself and tries to keep away from the guy who was trying to get his attention. We soon learn both his opinion of his job--he recognizes the relative ease as compared to the pay he receives--and of his personal life. Estranged from his now ex-wife Noreen (Hope Davis), he tries to maintain a vague relationship with his children Shelly (Gemmenne de la Peņa), a slightly overweight young girl who listlessly wanders between hobbies she has no real interest in, and Mike (Nicholas Hoult), who instead wanders in and out of trouble. His father, Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine, who comes just shy of burying his cockney in an American accent), is an accomplished author (in the Pulitzer sense) who is visiting doctors throughout the movie for recent troubles he has suffered.
This is probably the most surprising and interesting character for me--based on my understanding of Caine's usual roles and the bits I had seen in the trailer, I thought his father thought just as little of David as everyone else. Instead, David praises his fathering and Robert shows that this praise is not unfounded, being supportive without leaving David to his problems when he makes a mistake, yet not fixing them for him. That element of surprise, where the film takes routes I was not expecting, where it dodges the easiest of jokes, like the "blind catching" trust exercise that David and Noreen take part in--and do perfectly fine at--this is what I liked about this movie. When people keep throwing fast food at David, he does not rant and rave unrealistically, he swears and just tries to make do, poorly, and even rationalizes it to some extent in an effort to understand what would cause a person to do such a stupid, wasteful thing. When David makes mistakes himself, he doesn't do them because he's an idiot, or because he doesn't care about other people, but because he isn't aware of how they relate to him, or he to them. He thinks like real people--his mind easily distracted, we see, when he is pondering a simple issue that he considers a possible reason for his marriage's failure. Some have interpreted this as him blaming this incident for the breakup, where I took it as him wondering if perhaps, just that one little thing, might have made a difference. There is always that "last straw," and perhaps that was it, and so his wondering was not unfounded. He's not flawless, mind you--in not seeing those things he acts completely selfish and stupid, but usually you can see he meant well. The cast-off line when Noreen feels he has ruined the counselling they attempted, his explanation for why he did--it captured his attitude perfectly. He thought to do what he believed would facilitate a reconciliation but did exactly the wrong thing. He probably should have known better, certainly, but his decision is not entirely nonsensical, and actually not even selfish, exactly.
What this is is the story of a real human being--he screws up, but not because he is incalculably imbecilic or evil, but because he's thinking of a situation differently from the other people involved. His believe that his career success should cure his personal failures is not an unheard of, foreign or ridiculous one. He's like most people and has focused on trying things that may not work without being able to recognize that those things won't work, and believes that his life itself is a failure, when he's simply trying too hard at something he is not built--in whatever sense, and I'm a firm believer in "nurture" over "nature"--to be. Shamefully underrated and pretty thoroughly misunderstood. -
MCT:February 27, 2008
its ok.
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MCT:December 3, 2008
Not bad, I wish the main guy would actually accomplish something when he decides to spaz out on someone. At least let him win once during the entire movie.
Comments
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terris85017posted 361 days ago -
I can understand why some people did not care for this movie. First, it's not a typical Nic Cage movie with humor and or action. Second, the pace of the movie even I find to be a little on the slow side. Third, this is more of an art film, not so much entertainment like so much of American Cinema. The whole movie was a introspective look on the main character and what makes people happy, or what they think will make them happy. It is a strong film, but not for everyone... just as I don't think Reno: 911 is funny or worht it, I know of at least one person who thinks its some of the funniest stuff on TV. To each their own.
posted 501 days ago -
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I can't understand why so many people find this dull, boring, and unfunny. I guess too many people were expecting a slapstick comedy, but what they got was a more dramatic character study of a man experiencing real life problems. I thought it was superb, and I hope people stop overlooking it.
posted 878 days ago -
Heh, bad reviews. If you don't pay attention to this movie, you'll hate it. You need to use common sense to really GET it.
I came to an early conclusion that this is by far one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's real-life problems in the back life of a celebrity who's made it big, but not too big. Awesome music, too.posted 900 days ago -
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boring, and so stupid, i wanted to die! I can't express in words how horrible this film was
posted 921 days ago
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