Nicholas Cage stars in this dramatic comedy from director Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL), once again playing a handsome bachelor in a post mid-life crisis (ADAPTATION, THE FAMILY MAN, MATCHSTICK MEN). The son of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Spritz (Michael Caine), David Spritz (Cage) is a successful Chicago weatherman who for reasons beyond his understanding, frequently gets fast-food thrown at him on the street. Could the reason for this be that David's job, though lucrative, requires little exertion, allowing him to occupy what even he admits is a relatively easy existence? Living in the shadow of his father's greatness, and in the wake of a recent marital separation, David messily struggles to impress his father, reconnect to his estranged wife (Hope Davis), and save his troubled kids (Gemmenne de la Peña, Nicholas Hoult), all while trying to land a coveted job in New York. David's efforts to reach and protect his kids feel realistic in that they are heartfelt, but not always successful. Likewise, David's marriage contains tangible flaws that reveal themselves in interesting ways.
THE WEATHER MAN contains just as much sadness as it does comedy, and does a good job of finding one in the other. Some of the film's most heartbreaking scenes are also the funniest, the best example of this being when David learns that his daughter is being called "Camel-toe" at school. Each time Cage's clueless and vulnerable David gets hit with a burrito, milk shake, or McDonald's apple pie, we genuinely feel for the guy. Through increasingly insightful voiceovers, viewers are taken on David's journey from the lazy desire for things to be easy to the hard realization that things never are, and as David's wise father says early on in the film: life without struggle is meaningless.
Theatrical Release: October 28, 2005
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case - Sensormatic
Widescreen - 16.9
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Dolby Digital 2.0 Surrond - English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - French
Subtitles - English, French
Additional Release Material:
Featurettes - 1. EXTENDED OUTLOOK: THE SCRIPT
2. FORECAST: BECOMING A WEATHERMAN
3. ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: THE STYLE AND PALETTE
4. RELATIVE HUMIDITY: THE CHARACTERS
5. TRADE WINDS: THE COLLABORATION
Trailer - Original Theatrical Trailer
Executive Producer
Jason Blumenthal: Executive Producer, ALEX AND EMMA (2003)
Review 1:
"Steven Conrad's script is studded with brutal, blackly comic moments..."
Source: Uncut
p.136 04/01/2006
Review 2:
3 stars out of 5 -- "A hangdog Nic Cage ladles out his put-upon Everyman shtick in Gore Verbinski's tasty twist on the male menopause."
Source: Total Film
p.106 07/01/2006
Review 3:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[Cage] is excellent, making Dave empathetic and sometimes just downright pathetic, but never losing the audience's sympathy."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.110 07/01/2006
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