Scooter Chronicles

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Marcia and I, along with our friends Jeff and Amber, watched “The Weather Man” last Saturday. (Though Marcia and Amber didn’t make it through the whole movie.) It stars Nicholas Cage as David Spritz, a weather man on a Chicago TV station.

Here is a quick rundown about the movie. Spritz is fighting between being love and loathed by the locals. He has people coming up asking for autographs and he blows them off or even yells at them. While on the other hand, others will throw food at him, and which Spritz notes in a voice over is “Always fast food. Things that people would rather throw out than finish.” He is also dealing with trying to impress his Pulitzer Prize winning father, his tattered relationship with his ex-wife, a job offer to do the weather for the national network in New York, and his two kids; a son who has a trouble-maker past and a former counselor showing too much interest in him, and a daughter who is a bit overweight, who smokes, and is the target of kids cruel ribbing at school.

Now, first and foremost, the movie surprised me. Mostly because of my ineptitude. I thought it was going to be a comedy. I didn’t pay that close of attention to the trailers on TV, but kept seeing Cage get food winged at him, so I only assumed. Though in some ways it could be seen as a dark comedy given some of the events that happen.

One of the interesting points of the movie is watching Cage’s character struggle with making his life better, mostly for others; his father, his ex-wife (who he hopes to get back together with) and his kids. Yet nothing goes as planned, and at times seems to only make it worse. But he adapts. This is pointed out in Pacze Moj’s REVIEW of the movie on his blog Critical Culture that I read. It is a very interesting review and gave me some insight AFTER watching the movie.

Michael Caine plays Spritz’s father. Pacze mentions that he is the best character of the bunch, but I found him annoying to a point. He seemed to lack the knowledge of everyday slang and life as a kid. And for someone that is an award winning writer, he seems too out of touch. The media gives all of us plenty of insight into what it is like to grow up in this generation, so why so little knowledge and the constant questions “What is this, David?” Though Caine’s deadpan delivery was very good.

Another problem is his accent. He is portrayed as an American, but his accent wavers between English and bad Midwest American. The funny thing is that Nicholas Hoult that plays Spritz’s son Mike is from England, but leaves you thinking he is actually an American kid.

Making the adjustment of my expectations as the movie went allowed me to enjoy this more. It is deeper then what’s on the surface, but at times I lack the desire to see such things. (Yet I rant about Caine’s lack of American accent. Need to adjust my priorities.) But sometimes I just truly miss the point. “The Weather Man” still has great qualities, and gives you an everyday look at life. And even if you have a cake job and make more money in one year then the “Average Joe” will make in ten years, you can still have the same problems as that “Average Joe”, if not more.

I wouldn’t say that I loved the movie, and I wouldn’t go and recommend it to everyone. It has different levels of entertainment to it, and all I can say is that it was interesting.