The Weather Man (2005) – 4/5

A darkly clever film with lots of twisted humor and a hairstyle Nicolas Cage actually manages to pull off for once. Well done.

I can’t believe this was directed by Gore Verbinski. Other than the dark, grayish look of the film, nothing about it seemed like a typical film of his. That is, there are no pirates or ghosts or explosions. It’s mostly just dialogue, and it works for the most part. It remains entertaining throughout, and Nicholas Cage is good playing it straight.

It was a bit slow at times, but that can be forgiven. I really enjoyed the relationship Cage has with his kids, and the whole nature of the troubled marriage and how it’s affected them. It’s all handled pretty realistically, even when it’s being played for laughs.

The only thing I didn’t get is why Cage’s character was so eager to get back with his wife, Hope Davis’ character. She comes off as bitchy and annoying the whole time. This was probably more a casting issue than one present in the script, but it was noticeable and brought me out of the film a bit.

Anyway, a good film. A bit of a change of pace for Verbinski, showing that he can also do drama if the whole “directing huge blockbusters” thing stops working out for him.