Four out of Five stars
Running time: 101 mins

Enjoyable drama with strong performances, gorgeous photography and a thoughtful, introspective, frequently hilarious script.

What’s it all about?
Nicolas Cage plays frustrated Chicago weather man David Spritz, who’s approaching rock bottom after a painful separation from his wife, Noreen (Hope Davis). When he gets the chance of a new job on a national TV show in New York, he sees it as an opportunity to sort the rest of his life out too, as he attempts to reconnect with both his kids (Nicholas Hoult and Gemmenne de la Pena) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning father (Michael Caine).

The Good
The Weather Man would play well on a double bill with American Beauty, since they’re both about middle aged men reassessing their lives and learning to accept who they are. Both films also feature stunning cinematography.

Cage is superb in the lead, brilliantly conveying David’s confusion with some well chosen blankly bewildered looks. Hope Davis is as brittle and brilliant as she always is, while there’s strong support from Caine, Hoult and newcomer Gemmenne de la Pena.

The Great
The script is full of quotable lines and quirky, off the wall moments. There are some surprisingly moving scenes and several laugh-out-loud moments, particularly during David and Noreen’s group counselling session. Although the film has a lot of humour in it, it’s probably going to suffer from being marketed as a comedy – it’s really more of a dark comedy drama.

Worth seeing?
In short, The Weather Man is an enjoyable, thought-provoking film that’s liable to stay with you long after you’ve left the cinema. Recommended.