SXSW’s Church of Nicolas Cage.

He was there, walking into the Paramount Theatre as if he owned it. (Wait, DoesIt was his? The man purchased castles, dinosaur skulls, albino king cobras, and other items. [One quick Goggle search later] Ok, no, he does not.) He doesn’t.) The cheers got louder, and eventually became deafening. He nodded, waved, thanked a few people, and then took his place. He was wearing a plaid suit. He would later explain that he loves shortbread and that this was his way of paying tribute to the boxes that hold this delicious treat. While there were many prominent and notable people in attendance at the late Saturday night SXSW screenings, only one person was allowed to view them all. Here he was in flesh. All hail the King. All hail Nicolas Motherfucking Cellage.

The vibe for the premiere The unimaginable weight of massive talent the meta-comedy in which Nicolas Cage is finally cast in the role he was born to play — i.e., Nicolas Cage — was closer to a faith-based gathering than a film festival screening, which is not uncommon with the bigger-name, prime-slot SXSW extravaganzas. The festival’s longtime director of film Janet Pierson and her programming team have been great at assembling a wide variety of microindies, music documentaries and scrappy, DIY movies, the kind that tend to get overlooked at a lot of fests — it’s a lovely showcase for low-budget, left-of-center movies, even if the ratio of hits to misses can be off some years. (Full disclosure: PMC, Rolling Stone‘s parent company, owns a stake in SXSW.)

But studios love to bring their bigger, brasher, blockbuster-y comedies and genre outings down to the Austin, Texas festival because the audiences here tends to go nuts over that type of stuff in a way that most fest crowds don’t. This means that something like the Sandra Bullock action-com/romcom whatsit is possible. The Lost City which premiered a little earlier Saturday evening, plays like gangbusters regardless of whether it’s the second coming of Romancing the StoneOr not. You could even reveal it. UnbearableIt would be this one at any gathering of the cinephiles. This is where Cage’s unconditional love shines brightest. Last night, you weren’t going to the Paramount premiere of SXSW. You were going to the Church of Nicolas Cage.

The Inexplicable Weight of Massive Talent — so named because An incredibly heartbreaking work of staggering genius was already claimed — takes it for granted that you, the viewer, know and love the 58-year-old movie star’s work, that you can recite many lines of his dialogue and debate the merits of his filmography down to the last detail. (Who’s more likely to win in a fight: Castor Troy or Cameron Poe? The answer is, it depends on who’s holding the bunny.) It assumes you know the ups and downs of his career, especially the last two decades of it, and that seeing Real Cage play a Screen Cage who’s stooping to read for parts, suffering from financial difficulties and experiencing personal, if not existential strife, will create an interesting sense of frisson. Real Cage is also playing Gonzo Go-For-Baroque Young Cage as well, an figment of Screen Cage’s imagination-slash-cracked conscience who he calls “Nicky.” (In the post-screening Q&A, the actor confirmed that he based this Wild at HeartThe 1990 British talk-show host was the most prominent example of his era self. When you see that clip, you’ll 100-percent see what he means.)

Cage, a fictionalized down-and out character, is informed by his agent, Neil Patrick Harris, that a billionaire has offered to fly him to his house in Mallorca, Spain. He will also pay him $1 million for a personal appearance at his party. Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal), a Cage fan, has a shrine dedicated all things Nicolas. He’s also an international arms dealer, which means the C.I.A. — in the form of the bickering duo of Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, who’ve done this double act enough to take it on the road now — has taken an interest. Cage volunteers to help them find useful evidence on Javi. He wants to be paid and escape alive. He’d love to be able to buy the wax statue of himself. Face/OffThe more Mr. Gutierrez can keep the character in a glass container, the better.

For a time, Unbearable coasts along on this life-imitating-art-chopping-up-life-for-laughs vibe, giving Cage and Pascal the chance to make a warped, goofy buddy comedy involving dropping acid, tooling around Spain’s coast in a sports car, working on possible screenplay ideas and bonding over the healing power of Paddington 2. There’s a meaty take on the rabbit holes of fame and the wormholes of fandom slithering just beneath the surface, as well as some brain-tickling ideas about the way that a movie star’s legacy and persona(e) can become a prison. It is isn’t afraid to take some off-road detours and side trips in terms of 21st century stardom. The movie enjoys a few references, callbacks, and in-jokes. If you’ve ever wanted to see Nic Cage tongue-kiss himself, consider yourself extremely lucky.

And then, well…director Tom Gormican and his cowriter Kevin Etten just decide to turn everything into a standard Nicolas Cage action flick, with gunfights and set pieces and rescuing his kidnapped ex-wife (Sharon Horgan) and estranged daughter (Lily Mo Sheen) and battling Javi’s right-hand man as he tries to make a play for taking over the criminal empire. Perhaps you are familiar with another Nicolas Cage film. Adaptation. (2002), going from witty commentary to third-act brouhaha, although that was a heavily ironic poke at Hollywood’s formulaic screenwriting process. It was a real-versus–reel battle. This is a cop-out.

The logline that had been floating around for a while regarding this film had been that Screen Cage would be forced to re-enact Real Cage’s best-known roles to delight his host and help rescue his family, but if that This was once the idea that fueled this hall-of-mirrors project, it’s been left on the cutting room floor. So, per the Q&A session, were scenes of famous Cage creations like Troy and Las Vegas: Leave‘ Ben Sanderson down up in German expressionist make-up — Real Cage’The love of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a running joke — and a lot more interactions between Screen Cage and Nicky, which suggests a lot of great stuff get ixnayed. Memo to filmmakers: Consistently going on about all the great things we’ll one day see on the Blu-Ray, after we’ve just watched a movie characterized by late-act missed opportunities feels like an insult. Let’s stop teasing future pleasures. Marvel, who are you?

However, not all of the rabid Cage-uns in attendance were mindless. They came to see a movie but also to enjoy the glow of His Caginess. The actor’s smile lit up as he walked onto the stage. This was how you can see why star power is still a compelling reason to visit the movies. Watching him banter with costars and affectionately needle the movie’s creators and, yes, graciously accept a rose (!) A crowd member made the film feel both an afterthought as well as an apertif. ThereHe was the true talent. He smiled and laughed in front of the screen, rather than on it.

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