Second Emulation

Dissecting Nicolas Cage's Quest for Self in "The Weather Man"

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 58

Share episode

Send us a text

Discover the unexpected depth of Nicolas Cage's dramatic performance in "The Weather Man," as he weathers a personal storm of family dysfunction and career disillusionment. Alongside the iconic Michael Caine, we analyze Cage's character's quest for self-improvement amidst public ridicule and the metaphorical challenges of his on-screen profession. This episode peels back the layers of a film that cleverly intertwines the pursuit of wealth and recognition with the genuine struggle for happiness, revealing a narrative that resonates with anyone who's ever felt overshadowed by a parent's legacy or questioned their path in life.

Feel the weight of life's complexities as we critique "The Weather Man," acknowledging its juggle of intense storylines from post-divorce realities to the delicate balance of parenthood. We share candid thoughts on the film's darker themes, tempered with humor through Cage's character's unique stress-relief tactics, and we explore the emotional potency that might have been harnessed with a more streamlined plot. Join us for this deep dive into a film that, while serious, is punctuated by our light-hearted musings on Cage's remarkable hairline and the odd charm of his on-screen struggles.

Hey there, podcast pals! Need a morning boost? Look no further than Dunkin' Donuts! Our freshly brewed coffee and irresistible donuts are the perfect way to kick-start your day. From classic favorites to new flavors, there's something for everyone. Join DD Perks for exclusive rewards with every purchase. Swing by your nearest Dunkin' today and treat yourself to something special. Dunkin' Delights – making mornings brighter, one sip at a time! 

 Hey, everyone! Like, super exciting news! Fan mail has been added to our podcast! We totally love hearing from you, so if you have any questions, comments, or just wanna say hi, click the link above the description. We might even feature you in an upcoming episode! So, don't be shy—click that link and share your thoughts. Okay, now back to the show

Want more of Second Emulation? Stay connected with us by following our social media channels! By clicking the link below to stay up to date with us on our socials and Game review streaming channel.

https://solo.to/arc_veritas31






  📍  Welcome to Second Emulation, the podcast that explores all things pop culture, from movies and TV shows to the latest anime releases. Join us as we dive into the world of entertainment, sharing our thoughts, opinions, and insights on the latest trends and releases. With a focus on what's hot and what's not, we're your go-to source for all things pop culture. So sit back, relax, and let's get started

 Like to welcome you back to another episode  of  The Adventures through Nick Cage Filmography, or Travis Nick Cage is a multiverse. Yes. Nick Cage is a multiverse, is what we're dubbing it. I like to thank Emily for the great intro, and this movie is kind of different than what we're used to because it's much more serious.

Tone for Nick Cage. Mm-Hmm. . 

The movie is called The Weatherman, and it came out in 2005, which I was actually surprised by. I thought it was older for some reason. And it's about a Chicago weatherman separated from his wife and children who debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.

It honestly was more serious than I thought it was going to be. For some reason I thought it was going to be just like The Family Man.  Maybe it's the titles. I got misled. I misled myself.  

Yeah.  And sometimes I, you kind of catch yourself naming the title for the other movie because they both have the word man in it.

And so,  so you kind of get yourself caught up or like tongue tied in that. Yeah. But this actually movie does have an undertone of seriousness as it deals with an actual.  Real life  issue that apparently we did not know that the movie was going to go into. It kind of like, you know, solely  kind in the background. 

Hints at it and then slowly peels the onion of what's going on and you're like, huh?  Is this what wait  that can't but be what really is going on in this movie well, Nick Cage is the father who's kind of like  Oblivious but not really. I 

mean he's he's I wouldn't say he's oblivious. I would say he's more like He's more he's more like purposefully ignorant.

Like it's very clear his, his, his re his wife is his ex-wife. Like they're not gonna get back together. But in his head, in the whole movie, he thinks it's a possibility. So he is a little dilu, delusional. , I would say. But.  Yeah, I think we thought the movie was going to be like some happy, joyous movie about a family that comes together in the end, and it was absolutely not that.

It was more like his own internal growth, and there was a lot of internal dialogue, like, that's happening throughout the movie. 

Yes, and a lot of morbid, like,  stuff. Like, right off the bat, he's dealing with, like, death and dread, and just, like, yeah,  

you know. Well, so, to set the scene, he's  Separated from his wife who's living with another man.

He's got two kids better ones're pretty and once a team like what like 14, you know young  His dad played hand Kane surprised I think is like  I'm assuming is battling cancer kind of what they they allude to Yeah He takes his dad to his appointments every like week  and Nick is is a You  He's a weatherman  whose dad, Michael Caine, is like this famous literary author who's won a ton of awards, and it's clear that Nicolas Cage feels like he doesn't measure up, so he's like, you know, he feels like he's always chasing a shadow.

And then also people throw shit at him.  

But mind you, he's also wealthy. So like, he's not like, you know, they're living in the shit. Like they're living in Chicago suburbia. He doesn't make 

as much as he. There's this whole thing where he's trying to get this new Weatherman job on New York, which would be way more money, which makes sense.

Cause if you think about like.  Matt Lauer, Matt Lohr, or whatever. However you say it. Matt Lauer, I think is how you say it. He was making like  tens of millions of dollars being a host on Good Morning America or whatever. So, yeah, he could, he could make a decent amount. But he's definitely making a decent amount in, in Chicago, like his family has a nice house.

He has a separate space like he has all these nice coats He can afford to take his daughter shopping at one point in the movie for all brand new clothes, and it's not like  cheap clothes They're from Saks Fifth Avenue, and that's an expensive place to shop even in 2005  so so he doesn't have money, but I think he wants the recognition not just the money  

And my favorite scene would have to be, since we're pivoting, would be, essentially, they don't allude to it,  like what, like,  I guess, whether individuals will From his perspective are just hated, you know, and for Nick Cage's character, he's hated a lot.

And so he has things thrown at him when he's on the street, just constantly, constantly all 

the time. I was like, is this a thing people do from 

drinks to food, just anything in general. And it's hit with an apple pie. Apple pie and I think it's like, you know, maybe like they're expecting him to like give accurate information in regards to the weather and maybe he's wrong.

I don't know. Like if he's giving out misinformation, I think 

there's a point in the movie too, where he talks about what the person who's supposed to be, I think it's like a meteorologist or something who's supposed to be giving him the information. They say that there's like,  15 points of variation. So he's giving people, you know, what the weather could potentially be, but it's, it's also in a prediction.

We don't, the weather can change. Like we don't necessarily, especially back then, we might not have had as advanced of tools. So yeah, people seem to be pissed that he's wrong sometimes.  And it's like, I've never thought of throwing something at a, at a weatherman before, even if I'm mad about the weather, like that seems really intense. 

Yeah, and it seemed like  every instance that this  occurrence happens,  he's being sought out. Like, that they're either purposely And he, he going on to mention like they're either buying it  And intentionally not finishing it because  it's either, he's mentioned a Wendy's burger, Taco Bell, a Big Gulp a fro like things are being  thrown at him.

It's always when he's got some he's supposed to be around his dad too. And it's like 

fast food. Oh it's just 

fucked up. Who has all this money to be throwing their fast food at the window at a weatherman? Yeah, 

so like that is the  my by far is the My favorite scene is just like it's just coming out of left field and maybe that's just supposed to be the point is like he's he doesn't even know why he's hated yeah and that and that's like prompts him to like I just need to get out of here I need a fresh start 

yeah when he's also looking at the fresh start is like a way to to in his mind when back his wife when it's very clear they're not right for each other and she's living with a whole other man, so it's like, what does he think is gonna happen?

It's kind of until that's where I say is delusional but I do think I would say if I had to pick a favorite part, it would be the end when he is Spoiler alert a weatherman in New York obviously without his family, they didn't come, like, with him because she's marrying another man but he just carries, he's, yeah, at one point in the movie he gets his daughter bow archery lessons, and she doesn't want to continue it, so he picks it up as a way to focus and, like, calm his mind, cause he, he's kind of going crazy in there, and He just ends up carrying the bow and arrow in New York with him everywhere.

I think that, that is probably a good scene. Also, when he's, he's shooting it when he needs to calm down and he points it at his ex wife's new husbands to be, that was funny too, I would say.  That'd have to be one of my favorite scenes.  It's just a, it's just interesting that that's what they pivoted to.

Yeah. 

I think there weren't too many favorites. I don't know.  

Yeah, I would say there aren't too many favorite scenes for me either. It's not that it was a bad movie. 

It's just it was more serious  with this film because it was more, and when I say serious, I mean like, This movie actually was like peering into like a normal person's life.

Like this guy was like, like if, if you were to go into like a working man, a working family or like a words, this would kind of jump on up, even though he was more than like upper class, kind of like the, and the, the inner tomorrows of like someone who's gone through a divorce, he's still paying, you know, child support and alimony and the house that is X, Y.

And he's living in a condo like all the stuff that he's dealing with and still seeing his kids, you know, shared custody and then trying to like rebuild that relationship and try to be part of their lives and maybe fix that bridge, you know, while dealing with like, you know, stuff with his own dad. It's like, this felt really like, You know, we were peering into someone else's life.

So there weren't too many  scenes in here because it felt like we were just watching someone's life just unravel.  Very different than the family man. The family man. 

You know what I would say? I wouldn't even say it was like necessarily that it was badly done. I think it like you were saying to add on top of it, it's a very serious movie and I think it Took itself too seriously and put like too many things in there at once for him.

Like he has an internal mo like monologue that we hear which we, it, that part wasn't really necessary. He has, his dad is dying from cancer, his marriage has fallen apart, and then they also pivot to, he's trying to like. Achieve, you know, some type of recognition to make himself feel better. And then they also cut to a plot with his son getting groomed by a pedophile.

And  then you also have this issue with his daughter where girls or kids are teasing his, his daughter and calling her camel toe. Which is like, it's just a lot of stuff to shove into there, and it was almost too, like it took everything too seriously, and I, I understand that like, if this is real life, real person, this is the life he would be living, it would all be kind of this.

but I don't know. It just felt like  to, to somber, to serious in moments and then not serious enough in other moments. They gave him 

too many problems for him to solve within a film. Yeah. Like 

they just made him and I know he's a D supposed to be a deeply flawed person, but Oh, and then he takes up archery.

And so, It's just like and then the stuff about people throwing stuff at him, and I'm like okay There's just too much happening  And another thing is when people run into him and recognize and he hates that too and that's like another thing in the movie and Then they also show him going for the interview and and it's just it's just too much.

It's too much like I think if they would have condensed it and Showed like just his relationship with his dad his relationship with his children And then his relationship You know, with himself and then his wife, it might've been different, but who knows? So you 

can say we could pivot to our next, which is pretty much, do you have  a worst scene?

A worst scene? Yeah, for me it's actually gonna be the camel toe.  Just because like, I, the way they come about it is very weird. Also that's such an old insult. Like it's definitely from the early 2000s. I don't think I've heard it many, many years, but  I think for me, the worst scene is that they actually show it on the little girl when he's like.

Going to take her shopping and she picks clothes that she thinks she's going to fit into and she doesn't because she's a growing girl and she's a little bit bigger. And this is something like  her mom is clearly not showing her how to shop for her size and her age. And so she's the, the pants are too short and then they, and they're too tight and they show it and I'm like, Oh, this little girl in real life is like 12.

I don't really need to see that. So I would say that was my least favorite scene, but I do like how after that he does end up convincing her to go shopping and he, not to pivot, I know we finished favorite scenes, but I've just thought of the other one. My favorite scene is probably. His relationship with his children.

He does try really hard to be a good dad.  And when he takes his daughter shopping and he's so proud of her for changing her clothes, I thought that was really sweet. And then when he defends his son, knowing that that man did make a, try to make a move on his son. And he defends him and then beats him up.

Like, I think he very much deeply cares about his children. So I thought that was a favorite scene, but yeah, my least favorite scene would probably be that. Also the The, probably the grooming scenes, but that's just because it makes me uncomfortable. 

That I would say would be the worst  parts of the movie would just be that because blatantly they're showing it. 

and I'm, I'm sure the actor who is in other movies 

now,  we didn't even know I was 

in this probably looks back on it. It's like, yeah, that's probably uncomfortable to know that that's what it would become, but also like  Knowing  like Nick Cage's character to see the signs that it took this long You know the signs of what was going on.

Yeah  as a fault 

and well, I mean, he's not present So it's hard for him to know but but you know, you know you know, we know when we're watching it because we're adults and And we know that whenever a grown adult wants to hang out with a child that's not their own child or one by family relation that it's deeply, deeply, it's going somewhere weird.

I think they could have probably continued to allude to it, they didn't have to show some of the scenes like him taking off his shirt and him taking pictures of him, like that to me was a little Maybe uncomfortable, but it's probably because I'm an adult and I don't really want to see that. I mean, I'm, I'm aware it happens and we all are, but I don't necessarily want to see it on the big screen.

And I also kept thinking, what if, like, people who are, who do like to,  you know  Bad people go and watch that movie and think the same thing, you know, like I don't I don't I'm hopeful That's not a thing that happens, but it 

was a worse scene because I think it made us feel uncomfortable Because we know the world that we live in that this does exist.

It's such a big problem, too It's a big problem. So it for me It was a worse scene not because it you know the it devalues  The parts of the movie, I think, because  we, I know that this, what the move, what the scene's portray does exist in Eliminate him. Yeah, 

and it makes you feel uncomfortable and just a whole bunch of things.

And I think the uncomfort is dis comfort is, is  Part of the reason that makes it so unlikable but I did just realize they are also in Redfield together I didn't know they were in both movies together. Yeah Yeah later on so that must have been a treat for them to be in these heat Yeah, at one point he's playing his dad and then he's Dracula and he's Redfield. 

That's so fun And I wonder 

if they if they bring it up If they ever talked about like the the weatherman 

maybe I don't really time ago It was almost 20 years probably but  isn't his life  and none  Nick Nicholas Holt has been in a lot of movies, too. So yeah, that's just crazy I just say just I just realized I'm not sitting here that they were in those movies together Oh wow you 

just brought me back to that.

Yeah I,  now that I think about it, they both were in those movies. Wow he got to star with Nick Cage twice. 

yeah. I guess my other  scene that I didn't really like was probably my least favorite was probably when he goes to like Counseling with his ex wife and they're supposed to write down something that that they know the other the other person's not supposed to read and  She writes down that she didn't like his book and he gets really butthurt about it Boomers just buys out Capcom, but they both have responsible exes, so why not give them credit?

So basically Capcom's only fan type in sports is Boys. Ok, so, I'll first go into my case. I worked out that three of the storyboards were originally for the 

X men. I did 

not buy the story of any of them out. I'll see you next time together.  

No, I, and I think that might've been the whole point was like they were selling the fact that these, these individuals just were just total opposites.

It just didn't work. 

It just didn't work. They got divorced when, and it's funny cause when he says it in the movie, I got divorced because of tartar sauce. It's not because of tartar sauce. It's because she told him many times to pick it up. And then he still forgot it, which was like. And then he tried to lie about it instead of just being honest that he forgot it.

That's, man.  

I think my other favorite, well my other worst scene  would probably be  when he's out in public and this guy just comes up and asks him what the weather is or like  Yeah, he called them by his name hur and then he's He's expecting him to do like a trick. Yeah, and while he's actually talking with someone I think he might have been with his dad or he's with someone he's on focus, but he's like They do it 

multiple times There's one where he's in the DMV or whatever Mm hmm and he's trying to get turn that stuff in and they're asking him that question 

and Like it's just like when he's out and about it's kind of like  It's just so reminiscent of like if a celebrity is out and about doing their normal stuff and someone comes and asks them like, you know, a Question about like how their day going or maybe for an autograph and you know You should like let them carry on their with their day because they're just doing their normal tasks It felt something like that It was really uncomfortable because they're kind of asking him about the weather  and he's like it's cold What do you expect me to do tell you it's like it's not gonna get any better than this  Like he's supposed to be sidekick  and I wasn't sure if that was like the point You know, it just seemed really off because they they do it multiple times where people are asking.

What's the weather like and You know, it's like frigid  or they're expecting him to like to give him actual forecast. So I don't know, maybe it was like supposed to be a joke because yeah, he's a weatherman. Ha ha. But  knowing his character and what he's gone through, he's probably heard it so many times.

It's annoying at this point.  So I feel like, yeah, it's not my favorite scene just because his internal monologue has already told us he  hates it so much. 

He does. He hates it. He just, he just doesn't, I don't know. I think he's fighting with the fact that this is not what he ever thought he would be or do or wanted to do.

And so he just dislikes it. I, I guess it, I understand too, it would be annoying to have many people come up to you about your day and just be like, what's the nipper?  Like tell us, predict the future. Like he's just trying to live his life. And he's more regularly encountered than an actual celebrity because he's a, like a local celebrity, you know,  

This is where the other Nick Cage went in the family, man.

Yeah, 

that's what we were joking about. What if he went there and he had to all of a sudden be this man and started carrying around a bow and arrow and was getting stuff thrown at him. He would be so upset that his life. His life in the family man turned out to be this. 

Yes, he went from having a great family and life was grand to being divorced, having shit thrown at him.

Yeah. And now just having to fend for his life. His 

dad's dying. 

Yeah, his dad's dying. And now he has to walk around with a bow and arrow to fight, to fight for his life. 

Pretty much. Yeah. 100%. I, yeah, it was, again, it was not bad, but I wouldn't say it  It was, it was great.  I'd give it like a two and a half.  

I gave like final ratings overall, like it encompasses. 

It was a very,  I want to say  It was  a sad, kind of like, realistic movie. Very serious for the time. 

Very serious for Nick Cage. Yeah. He doesn't normally do, I think all the ones we've seen, he hasn't really done any super serious movies like this. Yeah, so it was very 

serious for him and like for the tone, the subject matter, very serious.

I would rate it for myself. I'd give it I think I gave it three Three and a Half stars? If you 

give me 255 I'd give it 255. So, combined, it's a three. Yeah. 

Combined. So, we're going to pivot to our next section where we're going to read, you know, reviews from users on Letterboxd. Now, you wanna go first? 

I'm definitely gonna go first. I gotta Find mine here  

one second. Well, I can't go first. So you do that. Yeah, you go first so mine is gonna be from Lizzie  She or they gave it four and a half stars and she wrote his life is in shambles I want to feed him soup and fix him  And I just like when people say shambles, but yeah, his life is definitely in shambles if I had to describe it.

He's definitely like nearing the deep end in this movie.  He's watching someone's mental breakdown. 

So mine is going to be from Matt the Snapper.  Quite frankly who in their right mind would throw a Wendy's Frosty and a big gold button it cage He gave it a three and a half stars  and my thoughts exactly like first who's buying food Just throw it away and waste it.

Yeah, like you literally I'm with inflation You're spending at least five to six bucks  on these items just to chuck it at someone. 

And you know what? Actually, Wendy's Frosties are very good, so that's such a waste. Such a waste of a delicious treat just to throw it at someone and you got to think they didn't even know they were gonna see That man, so were they just carrying it around and we're like, you know what we're gonna do We're gonna throw it up that man right there.

Ha ha  They're not the car like what what do you do? We're they just carrying it around hoping they'd see someone they hated. I don't you know 

what they're feeling afterwards They're like man. I wish I had that 

frosty. Yeah, probably and they do it so much. He's hit with a slurpee You It was, this was before Glee.

He's a trendsetter,  I guess. Okay, my next one is from Caitlin Durante she gave it zero stars and she wrote, Not about a man who gets bitten by radioactive weather, zero stars.  Which would have actually, I think, made the movie a lot more interesting, had that happened. That 

would have been interesting to him, just get super powers to control the weather.

That'd have been interesting.  I mean, we did get Nick Cage as a vampire, so I think that's the closest we'll get. That's the closest we'll ever get. And, the Sorcerer's Apprentice, two movies where he gets to 

see. But he's also the witch. Oh no, he wasn't a powerful person in that one. What about and Kick Ass, wasn't he, well I guess he didn't have superpowers.

He was ghost rider, he was a witch, and he was a vampire. So we've gotten a few of those. Yeah, it 

was a few of them. He was supernatural.  So this one this reviews from Julian did Baker  all, all I'll remember of this movie is tartar sauce. They gave it three and a half 

stars. Yeah, I feel that. That's honestly, what I remember from the movie too, is that he, they got divorced because of tartar sauce.

Correct, 

which is kind of like, I feel like  if you had to like word associations would probably be the family man. Tartar sauce, 

tartar sauce I of of the two. If we had to compare, I definitely prefer the family man versus the weather man.  Correct! There's a preferred man, just so you all know. Because 

that one was more entertaining than this one.

Yeah, it was and I think the chemistry was better in that one and and it was just a lot more interesting. I don't know it was more joy to watch than this one was. Just very sad.  Just super sad. I felt so bad for this man.  

Yeah, I think overall like final thoughts this movie was just  I wouldn't say like a Debbie downer it was just more a serious tone that I myself wasn't expecting from a Nic Cage film because from all the ones we've seen there have been ups and downs, but they were Entertaining up and downs.

This one was just It started off low and it just kept you there and you kind of really felt for the guy and it just kept you in that place of just sadness, my dear 

friend. Yeah, just, just pure sadness.  What are your overall thoughts? My overall thoughts is someone might convince me to watch it again in like a decade when I've forgotten what the movie is about.

And I will feel the same way as I do now. Just 2. 5 stars Nick Cage has a full head of hair though, so I'm pretty sure he had like hair replantations. It plugs. Yeah put in at some point, because you really, throughout the years, he's like, he's losing his hair. It comes back, he's losing his hair, he comes back.

Anyway I do want to take up archery though because that actually looked kinda cool.  

It is pretty kind of cool. Yeah. So 

that's my those are my thoughts 

thoughts. All right. So what about you? I think Archery  to be honest I think the last thing thing that stuck out for me would probably be Archery Yeah, that cage. 

If Nick Cage ever wanted to be an Avenger, he could be the next  archery person. 

Or he could be the next Katniss Everdeen. 

There you go. He could be the next hero with the  bow. Yeah, exactly.  I'm wondering if he still, like, ever practices it, or if someone's like, Hey, hey, hey. Do you, do you still have the skill or you ever practice archery from the, the weatherman and just see if he's like, oh yeah, or if it was just like a one time thing for the film and that was it.

I'm sure like he probably doesn't anymore or probably still has the bow.  That'd be kind of odd if he does, but I'm sure it was like a one time skill that he had to just practice for the film and that was it. 

Yeah, some people pick up things though from movies that they do and know it until like, you know There's just something they picked up and are able to do because they had to like train for it And then some just forget, you know, yeah being an actor such a weird thing sometimes  

And as we bring this episode to a close, do you have any last words for our audience?

As always, be safe, and I lost my hand. I lost my wife. Johnny has his hand. Johnny has his wife. I don't know why I have an accent.  

And with that, we'll catch you guys in the next episode. Bye. Bye. 

 📍 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Second Emulation, where we explored the latest in pop culture, movies, TV shows, and anime. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app, and leave us a rating and review to help us reach more listeners. And don't forget to follow us on social media for even more pop culture content and to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and releases. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for future episodes. So until next time, keep on Emulating and stay tuned for more exciting content.