The Weather Man

It’s a terrific role for Cage, whose widest smile always contains a flicker of anguish. And Caine is excellent as the unattainable father figure in this enjoyably downbeat tale of the flipside of career success

Written by Steve Conrad, this is the smartest script director Gore Verbinski has ever had, and he makes the most of it, aided by a strong cast.

It's a deeply honest and comic performance and seems filled with all the genuine humiliations that one imagines Cage himself has suffered in the past 10 years.

In the face of a character no one cares about, can audiences be faulted for asking: Why should we?

Yet another retread of Cage's weak formula of a gloomy man examining his life.

The Weather Man is more of a parable than a story; it just goes on and on and on, and the only point is to endure. It's not very uplifting, but sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad; sometimes hopeful, and sometimes melancholy. But that's life.

Intended as director Gore Verbinski's palate cleanser before back-to-back "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, this is an apprehensive cringe comedy of male malaise. It's also Verbinski's best to date, a small-scale challenge he should attempt more often.

If you've never heard of a "living funeral," this film is an icy introduction.