The Weather Man (2005)

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Directed by Gore Verbinski.

Starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Gil Bellows, Michael Rispoli, Nicholas Hoult, Gemmenne De la Pena.

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A man struggles to get a grip on a life that's spinning out of control in this emotional comedy drama. Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a television weatherman on a high-profile Chicago news program. Professionally, Dave is doing just fine -- he makes great money for a job that demands little effort, and he has a shot at an assignment with a network morning news and chat show. But Dave's personal life leaves a lot to be desired -- his father, respected author Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine), is in failing health, he's divorced from his wife, Noreen (Hope Davis), and his relationship with his children is tenuous at best, especially his overweight daughter, Shelly (Gemmenne de la Pena). If Dave is to land his new job, he'll have to move to New York City, and with his time in Chicago running short, he dedicates himself to trying to salvage his ties with his family before it's too late, though he discovers this is even harder than he imagines. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

SXSW 2008: The Promotion
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"The Promotion is such an insightfully hilarious and beautifully bittersweet movie about the American and human spirits that I wish Steven Conrad had always been directing his scripts. Conrad previously wrote The Weather Man and The Pursuit of Happyness, both of which can be felt here as less evolved ancestors; structurally they’re quite the same, while The Promotion shares some of the offbeat tone of Weather Man and a lot of the heart of Happyness. But there’s a story in The Promotion that is far more universal, relatable and familiar, which makes this one much, much funnier and much, much more sympathetic. And certainly Conrad’s ability to balance the sweet and the salty, as a director, is responsible for most of the film’s success. One scene in particular exemplifies the movie best: John C. Reilly, as the new-to-Chicago “Richard”, sits opposite four supermarket executives, interviewing for a promotion to be a full-on store manager, and he’s just had to defend how his Canadian-nes ... " [More]

The Weather Man - Nine Lives
by MovieBabe in MovieBabe Blog

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"By Tricia Olszewski In The Weather Man, director Gore Verbinski has achieved the impossible. It’s not getting another terrific sad-sack performance from star Nicolas Cage, who has already wrenched guts in Leaving Las Vegas and personified writerly angst in Adaptation. And it’s not taking Steve Conrad’s doggedly miserable script and presenting it as a credible portrayal of midlife crisis instead of a piled-on heap of melodrama. Rather, the accomplishment is this: making Bob Seger’s Chevy-pushing “Like a Rock” poignant again (or, perhaps more accurately, for the first time). Yes, its initial mention—the opening line of a speech that hapless David (Cage) gives at a gathering to celebrate his sick father, Robert (Michael Caine)—seems a bit ludicrous. But when the highbrow Robert, a Pulitzer Prize–winning author, plays the song while sitting with David in his car and asks him to explain how exactly the lyrics relate to him—we ... " [More]

stirs up plenty of after-thoughts
by ktincu in ktincu Blog

liked it.

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"I think the bulk of what I call "good films" tend to fall into one of two categories: either they're engaging and compelling in the moment but then quickly fade from my awareness, or they're just fine while I'm watching them, but then grow in my consciousness as time passes. (I guess what I consider "great films" manage to accomplish both—they're equally compelling during and long after the viewing.) The Weather Man falls into the second "good film" category for me. It was a perfectly fine way to spend a couple of hours this past Friday night, but I wasn't utterly taken by the film as I watched it. In the couple of days since I've watched it, though, the film and its characters have taken on a much larger life in my imagination and thoughts. The characters are so real, both in their brokenness and in their small, hopeful desires and efforts to pull themselves above their failings. They simultaneously love and despise each other in such real, believable ways, and they struggle to m ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

Gore Verbinski is a rare entity in Hollywood -- a mainstream director who isn't pigeonholed into one genre. He made a distinctive imprint on horror (The Ring), adventure (Pirates of the Caribbean), and finally, the mid-budget melodrama The Weather Man. This adult coming-of-age tale is darkly funny, moving, and well acted, if too long and occasionally plodding and obvious. As the weatherman, Dave Spritz, Nicolas Cage wears the burden of his mid-life crises with stoic humor and doesn't resort to any breakdown histrionics to convey his inner angst. Hope Davis has carved out a nice serio-comedic niche as the exasperated wife (see also The Matador and American Splendor) and Michael Caine is especially spot-on as Spritz's patient, loving father. Using a blue-gray color scheme, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael captures the soul-taxing brutality of frigid Chicago winters and the emotional isolation of the characters. A subplot involving a pedophile stalking Spritz's son is ill-conceived and the attempts to draw a larger case for a modern American malaise drawn from fast food and fluff TV is overwrought. But overall the depiction of a man forced to confront middle-age disappointments and accept the routine difficulties of life is well done. ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide

Tags: Loved-It , funny , stuck-in-my-head , endearing-characters , newyork
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