The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | 2022 | R | – 1.5.10

Why is “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of kisses, two kidnappings, several gunfights that leave some injured people, a few car chases, a jump from a cliff without injury, several punches and fights, several arguments, and 90 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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An aging actor (Nicolas Cage as Nick Cage), fearing the end of his career, accepts $1 million to attend a wealthy fan’s (Pedro Pascal) birthday party on a remote island, not realizing the man is dangerous, until he’s recruited by the CIA to utilize his most iconic movie characters to save himself and his family. Also with Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Paco León, Neil Patrick Harris, Lily Mo Sheen, Alessandra Mastronardi and Jacob Scipio. Directed by Tom Gormican. [Running Time: 1:47]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man and a woman kiss tenderly. A man kisses another man on the lips and yells, “Nick Cage smooches good.”
► A man talks about his feelings for a woman. People dance at a party.
► Two men in a spa setting are shown wearing robes that reveal part of their bare chest; later we see them shirtless on massage tables with towels covering from the waist down (their bare backs, shoulders and partial chests are seen). A woman wears a low-cut tank top that reveals cleavage. A man wears a robe and swim trunks while lying on a chaise lounge poolside. A man wears a shirt and bikini swim trunks while seated on a chaise lounge. Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage and bare shoulders at a party. A fully nude statue is seen and breasts, buttocks (from the side) as well as genitals from the front are seen.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A woman shoots at two men and both are struck and fall to the ground; she is shot in the shoulder and we see some blood. A man with a gun breaks into an apartment and hits a young man in the head knocking him unconscious; a young woman in the apartment runs and is knocked down by another man entering the apartment (we do not see injuries) and we understand that the young woman was kidnapped. A man punches another man in the face and takes his gun. A man is held with a gun to his head and is then stabbed in the leg. A man holds a gun on another man, who draws two guns on him, they argue and are shot at by someone off-screen; they run and exchange gunfire. Four women run and speed away in a Jeep, a gunman threatens them and the driver slams into him knocking him to the ground; he gets up and is shot in the back and we see blood in his mouth as he falls back on the ground. A man and woman with guns wait for several cars that speed along a narrow road, and when struck one car flips over and others swerve to avoid shots. Several cars chase another car through narrow streets, the wrong way through some, and slam through a security gate; the driver of a chase car grabs the driver of the other car and holds a gun to his head and several armed guards hold guns on him; the gunman is stabbed in the chest and falls to the ground off-screen.
► Two men jump into a Jeep and speed away as two others chase on motorcycles; the driver of the Jeep pulls the helmet off one of the cyclists knocking him down and slams on the brakes causing the other to slam into the back of the car and crash into the roll bar; the rider punches one man in the passenger seat in the face and the driver throws him off the back of the car. A man kicks another man in the knee and he collapses, and the first man holds a knife to the fallen man’s ear, and then his throat. A man pushes another man to the floor on his knees and holds a gun to his head, he yells and pulls the trigger (the gun does not discharge). A man punches another man in the face.
► A man jumps out of a car while it is moving (he seems unharmed). Two men take LSD and drive along a narrow coastal road. A man driving under the influence of a drug backs into a car and crashes over bicycles before driving away. A man puts a sedative patch on his hand and accidentally touches it to his forehead causing him to lose sensation; he climbs out of a window, along a ledge and through another window where he collapses on the floor before administering an antidote. Two men think that two other men are following and watching them, they run and one climbs a stone wall, tries to help the other up but is unable, and the second man falls back to the ground. A man runs into a street in front of a car and is struck and rolls into the windshield, landing on the ground and gets up limping but runs away.
► A man yells at another man, “You’re lying to me,” and they argue as one man loads a shotgun and shoots skeet. A man is grabbed off a sidewalk and thrown into a van where he is questioned by government representatives; he is asked about his relationship with a man that they say is involved in criminal activity and describe him leaving a “wake of dead bodies.” A man slams on the brakes of a car and runs through woods followed by another man, they reach a cliff and jump after the first man says that they are being followed by people that will kill them; they fall into the ocean below and seem unharmed and one man yells, “We could have died.” A man talks about retiring from acting, he steps into a swimming pool, and sinks to the bottom where he sits and drinks from a beer bottle; another man dives in and pulls him to the surface.
► A woman says that two kidnapped teenage girls are going to be killed. A woman and her teenage daughter argue with a man about his behavior and personality. A man talks about a broken relationship with his father and trying to repair it before the man died. A man yells loudly while driving a car. A man reads for a director and plays a threatening character. A man imagines his younger self and talks to him in several scenes. A woman pulls covers off a man in bed and yells at him to get up. A teen girl talks about her father in a counseling session. A man says of another man, “He’s stoned out of his mind.” A room is filled with a collection of items from a man’s movie career including a wax statue of him.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent LANGUAGE 10

 – About 90 F-words and its derivatives, 5 sexual references, 40 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (annoying, insane, Spanish Dr. No, fantasy world, idiot, psychopath, monster, weird, pathetic, par for the course, center of attention, debilitation, terrible, grotesque, disturbing, subpar footwear, Donny Brasco, paranoid, terrifying, messed up, ruthless, corny, dark and broken world, snob), exclamations (gosh, sorry, out of your mind, wow, ow, oh come on, don’t freak out, get off me), 4 religious profanities (GD), 24 religious exclamations (e.g. Holy [scatological term deleted], oh my God, Jesus Christ, I swear to God, My God, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent SUBSTANCE USE

 – Two men take LSD and we see them under the influence, a young man and a young woman smoke something that could be marijuana, a man accidentally exposes himself to a sedative that knocks him out, a man injects himself in the leg with a hypodermic containing an antidote, a man says another man is stoned out of his mind, and two men smoke marijuana. A man drinks to excess after receiving disappointing news, a woman holds a glass of wine, a man holds a drink while lying on a chaise lounge, two men drink alcohol in a swimming pool, a man drinks in a bar, and a man smoking marijuana says that he prefers bourbon.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Talent, narcissism, divorce, parenting, success, failure, spending habits, denial, trust, consequences, sacrifice, spying, guilt, “Paddington 2,” illegal activity, disappointment, kidnapping, family, suspicion, storytelling, myth making, marketing, movie industry.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent MESSAGE

 – Family means everything.