The Weather Man (2005)

102 min. Director: Gore Verbinski. Cast: Michael Rispoli, Michael Caine, Nicolas Cage, Hope Davis, Gil Bellows.

"I'm not a hill of beans," says the title character of The Weather Man. "I have a plan." Nicolas Cage plays Dave Spritz, a TV presenter on a figurative precipice. He's so good at his job that he's in the running for a national morning-show gig, but he knows that any victory will be hollow—predicting the weather is an illusion in every way, and his prized, peppy on-air personality is a lie. His plan includes impressing himself and his Pulitzer-Prize-winning father Michael Caine, maintaining his pitch-perfect streak) by writing a great novel: so far, no luck. Dave is also taking awkward strides to shore up his relationships with his divorce-wracked family: ex-wife Hope Davis, daughter Gemmenne de la Peña, and son Nicholas Hoult. Steven Conrad's script and Cage's performance labor to achieve a just-so rakish tilt of peculiarity, but Gore Verbinski's purposely colorless film has a tendency to feel random and irrelevant. A non-comforting approach helps, and a Nic Cage freak-out is always good for a chuckle, but Dave is right: a rich guy's half-focused motivations and emotional inconveniences ultimately don't stack up to a hill of beans.

Aspect ratios: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Number of discs: 1

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0 Surround

Street date: 2/21/2006

Distributor:

Paramount's special edition of The Weather Man contextualizes Gore Verbinski's adventure into offbeat comedy-drama with five featurettes (sorry, no "Play All" option). "Extended Outlook: The Script" (10:06) gathers Verbinski, screenwriter Steve Conrad, producer Todd Black, and Nicolas Cage to discuss the story and screenplay. "Forecast: Becoming a Weatherman" (5:44) includes the same interview subjects, joined by meteorologist Tom Skilling, as they explain how Cage and the production recreated the performance and environment of a weather man. In "Atmospheric Pressure: The Style and Palette" (9:23), Verbinski, DP Phedon Papamichael, and production designer Tom Duffield comment on the look of the film.

"Relative Humidity: The Characters" (19:43) gives the director and each principal actor (Cage, Sir Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Michael Rispoli, Gemmene de la Peña, and Nicholas Hoult) a chance to explain his or her character and character relationships. Finally, in "Trade Winds: The Collaboration," Verbinski waxes enthusiastic about three of his creative partners, all of whom submit to interviews: editor Craig Wood, costume designer Penny Rose, and composer Hans Zimmer; here, we also see Verbinski and others performing the score—pretty cool.

Review gear:

  • Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
  • Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
  • Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
  • Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
  • Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
  • Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer