The Weatherman

Review by Clint Morris

Today we’re predicting a strange, but blustery sort of film, with overcast performances, and light to moderate attention from the box office. Yet, like the finest weather reporter, sometimes – especially if that weather reporter is a barbecue man, or a gardener – it’s a joy to be wrong.

There’s nothing like a film with real people in real situations - unfortunately there’s just not too many of them these days, is there? – and thankfully director Gore Verbinski brings us a lot closer to the people on screen than any smell-o-vision gimmick could’ve.

Nicolas Cage is Dave Spritz, a popular Chicago weatherman – who’s renowned for his ‘Spritz Nipper’, or his prediction for the coldest day of the week – whose off-screen life is anything but sunny days and rainbows.

His wife (Hope Davis) divorced him because he forgot to buy tartar sauce, his Pulitzer-prize winning father (Michael Caine) is exceptionally hard to please, his oldest son (Nicholas Hoult) is knocking about with a sly councillor (Gil Bellows) whose out to take advantage of the boy’s virtuousness, his youngest (Gemmenne de la Peña) is constantly being teased about her plumpness, and worst of all, Spritz is constantly pelted with food from the public – part of being a weatherman without a degree, apparently.

The light at the end of the tunnel? A big-time gig as the weatherman on New York’s “Hello America” with Bryant Gumbel. Or so Spritz thinks.

If you can’t at least relate to character a little bit – the trappings of a job, the dream to sometimes be someone else, trouble with the ex-wife, a need to seek constant approval from your father and the constant rain that God seems to shower on you, just you - you’re obviously kidding yourself. Though played to a large extent for laughs, you can’t help but sympathise with his plight. We’ve all had those days or those years - and many of us even spend our lives in a constant gloom – and what Verbinski’s film tells us is that that’s normal, we’re supposed to feel like that sometimes, and yep, life sometimes takes a bit of work. You can pray all you like to the almighty one, but most of the time, it’s up to you to put in the hard-work to improve your situation.

There’s a lot more here than a good life-lesson though – there’s entertainment.

Welcomingly atypical, boldly unique and at times both humorous and heartbreaking, The Weather Man has a lot going for it, not the least of which are the performances. Nicolas Cage gives one of his best performances in years  - granted, the script gives him a lot more to do than everything else he’s done of late – as our male protagonist, whilst the always-dependable Michael Caine gives an impressive and slightly against type turn as his stern father (even if his American accent does leave a lot to be desired).

It will be a hard sell, because it really doesn’t move like other films do nor does it possess the punchy plot that commercial films do, but if you can handle something a little different and will easily appreciate a film more meaningful than, say, one with babysitters being terrorised by prank callers, or middle-aged women bonking football players in speeding cars - then definitely check this out.

The Weather Man is quite a surprise package, and more notably, a film that’ll possibly expose what’s behind the fabricated smiles of a lot of TV weathermen.

3.5 out of 5

The Weatherman
Australian release: 23rd March, 2006.
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Gemmenne De la Pena, Nicholas Hoult
Director: Gore Verbinski
Website: Click here.