Weather men predict the unpredictable'??that's their job. But the sheer nature of such an incongruity runs to a screeching halt by the impossibility of certainty.
Director Gore Verbinski delves into the unrewarding profession of the weatherman, where success goes unnoticed but failure becomes the means by which frustrated cubicle-workers release their suppressed anger. Touched with the perfect combination of dark humor and ethical value, 'The Weather Man' shines as one of the year's under appreciated sleepers.
David Spritz (Nicholas Cage) is a local weatherman in Chicago earning $240,000 a year. His job, in terms of actual effort, is relatively easy'he rehearses his lines and reads from a TelePrompTer two hours a day, spending the remainder next to the water cooler.
The film highlights the disparity between the simplicity of his profession with the complexity of life outside the studio. David's recent divorce from his wife has led to the estrangement of his two kids, with whom he slowly feels himself losing touch. His father (Michael Caine)'an accomplished author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize'sees David's profession as the definition of his character, which he subtly, though powerfully, dismisses as inadequate.
The storyline materializes when 'Hello America' offers David the opportunity to broadcast across the national scope, leading him to question the next step of his life. The position represents all that he lacks ' the spotlight, a generous salary, and most importantly, respect, (he's consistently pelted with various fast food items).
But David is indecisive, and the news of his father's lymphoma complicates and suspends his decision. As a result, the film's brilliance derives from the evolution and self-cleansing of his character.
Nicolas Cage is meticulously accurate playing the loser, who in hopeful effort and persistence draws the audience into his character. He is funny but sincere, paralleling himself with the notion of fast food''gets the job done, but doesn't really provide any nourishment.'
In an exceptional flashback, Verbinski exposes David's thoughts as he runs to the store to pick up tartar sauce for his wife, but is sidetracked by a red light and an attractive woman on the sidewalk.
What the film explores on a larger scale, however, is the metaphor of predictability. It plays with the question of 'where do we go wrong' by showcasing the spiraling loss of control in David's life.
The film also plays with the irony of the nature of the weatherman, whose sole purpose is to predict what happens next. Through David, Verbinski proves that life is unpredictable, and one can only do his best to narrow the chances of inconsistency.
In the end, the audience comes to love David. As the target of drive-by multiple milkshake-and-nugget bombs, one might feel bad for him but can't help laughing at the montage in which he describes all nine incidents. Through a series of events, he comes to understand the impossibility of predictability, and consciously recovers the scattered pieces of his life one at a time.
'All of the people I could be,' he tells us, 'they got fewer and fewer until finally they got reduced to only one' and that's who I am. The weatherman.' It's his realization of who that weather man really is that begs the question, 'Why does that have to be so bad after all'?
