The Weather Man
Director: Gore Verbinski
Year Released: 2005
Rating: 1.5
Chicago weather forecaster/TV personality (Nicolas Cage, a Lester Bernham stand-in) can't find satisfaction at his own (easy, high-paying) job, can't gain the respect of his wife, kids or viewing audience (the people who keep throwing food at him) or his dying father (Michael Caine), so he goes on a quest to find meaning and balance. It acts like depression equates with depth and filters equate with mood - it looks sad and acts sad but it is never convincingly so - which, to be honest, is kinda sad. More infuriating is the ending, which has Cage 'coming to terms' with being a fraud because hey, we're in America and we're filled with 'em. For penance, the filmmakers should be forced to actually read Eugen Herrigel's "Zen in the Art of Archery," write a two-page report and have it in my hands by next week. No excuses.
