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The Weather Man

This is a surprising little film given its content and the way in which it deals with said content. The Weatherman is a rare gem that will have most viewers questioning how it got made. The real question is how did a major studio greenlight a pic like this? If Nicholas Cage and Michael Caine have this much clout then the duo should team up more often.

A very mature and dark film, The Weatherman, deals with feelings of abandonment and a shortcoming of expected, but negatively reciprocated nepotism. Cage stars as David Spritz, the resident weatherman on a local Chicago news station who is frequently the unwilling recipient of a drive-by fast fooding. To Spritz it is believed that a mere salary increase would ease his feelings of inadequacy, but soon and always, his attention is drawn back to his father, a famous author Robert Spritzle (Caine). The difference in name is a convention of the father son relationship and better left to the wonderful screenplay by Steve Conrad for explanation. Cage’s constant fawning for the attention and approval of his father has kept David from achieving his utmost potential, even if that is being national weatherman. Through it all Cage finally, without his own knowledge, becomes a man his father can respect, through being a father to his own children.

Director, Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean), establishes a context with his actors, most notably Cage and his estranged wife (Hope Davis), and the lush cinematography from Phedon Papamichael, which captures an alluring sense of isolation with the frigid Chicago winter. As the film unfolds at an alarmingly meticulous pace the sense of isolation and cold is thawed and expanded by the growth of the characters involved.

The DVD comes packed with extras, which explain the cinematography and screenwriting process. In addition the disc has a wonderful video transfer and audio that is often overlooked on a smaller under performing film like this. Ultimately, it’s not to be missed.

Written by: Kevin Yeoman

Reviewers Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 5.50
Reader's Votes: 4

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