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The Weather Man

2005, Movie, R, 101 mins

The Weather Man: Review

WEATHER MAN, THE
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Blockbuster director Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE RING) takes it down a few notches for the kind of quiet, character-driven comedy that's usually associated with the likes of Cameron Crowe and Alexander Payne. While it's no JERRY MAGUIRE or even ABOUT SCHMIDT, Verbinski's fable about a middle-aged man trying to force his derailed personal life back on track is heartfelt and often very funny. With his telegenic smile and masterful arm movements convincingly describing the paths of oncoming cold fronts, Channel 6's Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is, to all appearances, a successful TV weatherman. He pulls a good salary, drives a nice car and even though some people feel compelled to pelt him with shakes, burritos and Big Gulps while he walks around Chicago's streets, he is a local celebrity. Off camera, however, Dave's life has completely lost its focus. His marriage to Noreen (Hope Davis) has completely fallen apart; their overweight 12-year-old daughter, Shelly (the marvelously deadpan Gemmenne de la Peña), is chronically depressed; and their pot-smoking 15-year-old, Mike (Nicholas Hoult), is seeing a creepy rehab counselor (Gil Bellows). Above all, Dave's ostensible fame appears to have made no impression whatsoever on his father, highly regarded, Pulitzer-winning writer Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine), whose vague indifference could be interpreted as contempt. As Robert points out, Dave, who actually changed his last name from "Spritzel" to "Spritz" to sound more "refreshing," doesn't have a degree in meteorology, nor does he really predict anything. Dave just stands in front of a blank green screen and mouths other people's suppositions about which way the wind is going to blow. Dave hopes that by pulling his family together and maybe even bagging the highly coveted weatherman slot on a national morning news program he'll finally prove to Robert that he's not a complete boob. But he doesn't have much time: Robert has just been diagnosed with terminal lymphoma and may have only a few months to live. For a film about life, death and what we're forced to give up along the way, the film is surprisingly weightless — it works better as a mild-mannered comedy than a serious exploration of midlife existential angst. Verbinski, however, produces a number of unexpectedly powerful images to communicate emotions that exceed the reach of Steven Conrad's lightweight screenplay, while Caine and Cage share a carefully calibrated rapport in which the tone of what's said and the silences surrounding what isn't speak volumes. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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