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"THE WEATHERMAN"
(2005) (Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine) (R)

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QUICK TAKE:
Dramedy: A local TV weatherman tries to land a prestigious national TV gig all while dealing with a midlife crisis partially stemming from his life falling apart all around him.
PLOT:
David Spritz (NICOLAS CAGE) is the popular TV weatherman for Chicago's WCH6 who hopes to land a national TV gig with morning show "Hello America" in New York. Yet, while his professional aspirations are coming true, his personal life is falling apart. His marriage to Noreen (HOPE DAVIS) has ended -- she's now dating Russ (MICHAEL RISPOLI) -- and he has a hard time connecting with his kids, 12-year-old Shelly (GEMMENNE DE LA PENA) who has self-esteem issues, and 15-year-old Mike (NICHOLAS HOULT) who's been getting into troubled despite help from his counselor, Don Boden (GIL BELLOWS) who, unbeknownst to anyone, is a closet pedophile.

Then there's David's father, Robert Spritzel (MICHAEL CAINE), an acclaimed and famous novelist who fails to be impressed by David or his career. To make matters worse, he's dying from lymphoma, meaning David might not ever be able to prove himself in his father's eyes. As he prepares for his job interview and audition with "Hello America," David tries to come to grips with his midlife crisis and the various personal and familial issues that are fueling it.

OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10
Although they're often belittled for simply reporting on what's occurring outdoors, meteorologists and weather personalities have more impact on our day to day lives than most other broadcasters as they tell us what to wear in the morning, what to expect during the day and whether there might be traffic or flight delays in our future.

But does their peering into the "crystal ball" enable them with any other sort of prognosticative powers, such as regarding their own lives? After all, relationships are teaming with weather related jargon. Love affairs are hot and steamy before they often cool off and turn frosty. And if referring to troubles, it's often said that when it rains, it pours.

Although that metaphorically occurs in director Gore Verbinski's "The Weatherman," the film actually symbolically starts with a view of big chunks of ice crashing into each other in frigid Lake Michigan. And thus begins the look at the life and career of David Spritz, a weather reader at a Chicago TV station who's dropped the "zel" from the end of his last name (since it sounds more professional) and has a shot at landing a gig at a national morning TV show in New York.

The forecast for his personal life, however, is decidedly more overcast. He's still hung up on his ex-wife who's already dating someone else, his son has just left rehab, his overweight daughter is sullen on her best days and he lives in the constant shadow of his father who he wants to impress before the old man is dead.

If that doesn't seem like bright and sunny material, I don't know what does. Yet, despite the sound of gloom and doom, Verbinski ("The Ring," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies) and screenwriter Steve Conrad ("Wrestling Ernest Hemingway") actually give much of the material a light and near whimsical touch, enhanced by the occasional voice over narration provided by Nicolas Cage as the titular character.

When I first head of this project and that the famously quirky actor was in the lead, I figured it had to be satire, although perhaps not as broad or juvenile as "Anchorman." Instead, it's something of a kissing cousin to "American Beauty" in that its protagonist is a middle-aged man in the midst of a midlife crisis.

Rather than him fantasizing about Mena Suvari, however, Cage's character tries to right his familial ship. The result -- a mix of light comedy and pathos -- is only mildly entertaining but does prove to be a near perfect match for Cage's onscreen persona and acting style. With his hangdog expression and his character's inability to succeed on the home front, Cage ("Lord of War," "National Treasure") effortlessly makes us care about this flawed soul.

Of course, his costar is no slouch either, and I'm referring to Michael Caine ("Batman Begins," "The Quiet American") who appears as the weatherman's erudite father who's dying of lymphoma. One can sense the fear and self-disappointment behind his character's otherwise calm demeanor and veneer, but the illness is even more terrifying for Cage's since a death before fatherly acceptance of his life would be psychologically devastating for him.

On the other end of that scale, the son played by Nicholas Hoult (now grown up from "About a Boy") turns to his rehab counselor -- played by Gil Bellows (TV's "Ally McBeal") -- as a surrogate father figure, unaware that the attention and gifts showered on him are concealing pedophilic desires. And since the protagonist's relationship with his wife -- embodied by the always reliable Hope Davis ("The Matador," "Proof") -- has completely iced-over, the weatherman spends the rest of his time trying to instill some confidence and self-esteem in his 12-year-old daughter -- Gemmenne de la Pena ("Erin Brockovich" -- who's severely lacking in both.

All of that may seem rife with too much melodrama, and one could easily see this as a novel that takes place inside the main character's head as he wryly examines his life and those of everyone around him. Here, in movie form, that and the comedy/drama mix work better in some moments than others, with the film ending up feeling like a day with consistently intermittent and passing showers mixed with warming sunshine. It's hard to forecast how the film will do with viewers, but looking at its conditions right now, I have to say its temperature is only lukewarm. "The Weatherman" rates as a 5 out of 10.




Reviewed September 14, 2005 / Posted October 28, 2005


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