The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

2. The Impressive Visual Effects

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Nicolas Cage
Lionsgate

Though it's clear that Massive Talent didn't employ much CGI at all per its evidently low-ish budget, VFX were employed extensively for one of the film's most outrageous recurring gags.

Throughout the movie Nic experiences hallucinations of "Nicky Cage," a younger version of himself from around the period of 1990's Wild at Heart, who frequently torments him about the state of his career.

Nicky was clearly achieved through digital de-aging tech, and considering this film's considerably lower budget than, say, an MCU movie, the end result is shockingly good for the most part.

That's not to say there isn't a slight uncanny valley vibe to the whole thing - which, honestly, totally works in enhancing the strangeness of the gag - but it certainly looks leagues ahead of, for example, Catherine Keener's horrid de-aging in the recent Netflix's blockbuster The Adam Project.

The weirdness of watching Nic Cage interact with a mostly plausible younger version of himself cannot be overstated - and it's glorious.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.