The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) review

Hollywood superstar Nick Cage (as "himself," using those "shamanic instincts") is dealing with multiple issues: he's desperate to get a starring role in a David Gordon Green project, he's having a hard time connecting with his daughter Addy (Lily Sheen, who ironically has two movie star parents), he's going through a divorce, he has money problems ... and then when he reluctantly agrees to appear at the birthday party of billionaire fan Javi (Pedro Pascal) in Mallorca, he's whisked away by two CIA case officers (Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish) who tell him that Javi is an arms dealer and kidnapper.  To its credit, it doesn't "mock" or "belittle" our beloved leading man - who truly is a national treasure - and does seem very knowledgeable about his extensive career (he's appeared in over one hundred movies ... so far!), but it runs out of ideas after the first act and then turns into yet another lame duck jokey "action flick" (the LSD scene is particularly dumb).  Director Gormican, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten, could have gone almost anywhere with it and there's no doubt Cage would have happy to go along with it ... and yet he settles on basic homage.  Sigh.