Nicolas Cage is perhaps one of the most widely spread film actors in Hollywood. He can easily transition from a determined treasure hunter (“National Treasure”), to a careless arms dealer (“Lord of War”), to a downed ex-husband searching for something better or to make up with his wife (pretty much ¼ of every film he’s made). He is one of those adaptable actors who can even bring out enjoyment in a film that’s not that great to begin with (though I am not referring to “The Weatherman”).

In Gore Verbinski’s (“Pirates of The Caribbean”) “The Weatherman” the story follows well-known Chicago weatherman, David Spritz (Nicholas Cage). The question that always seems to be on his mind is: Why do people throw fast food items at him? All he does is read some prompts and points to invisible patterns on a green screen and gets a large salary for only being in the office for maybe two hours every day. Read that statement again and put yourself in the position of the person throwing the food.

Besides getting things thrown at him, things aren’t going as well as one may think. He’s divorced; he only gets to see his troubled kids every once in a while and has no idea what is going on in their lives, and he cannot live up to the expectations of his Pulitzer Prize-winning father, Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine). Finally, David’s dream has come true, they want him to come to New York and be the new weatherman on Hello, America!

David is caught in a pickle. His ex-wife, who he discovers he still has feelings for her, is getting really close to her new boyfriend. His daughter is being made fun of at school and his son’s therapist is getting a little too close to his son. And to top things off, his father is getting sick.

This film has led me to believe that, like people, films have personalities of their own. It takes a lot to change a personality and it can only be done in time, and this film does so through both drama and light humor. Cage’s character has one of the most logical and realistic on screen personalities I have ever seen in a film, and still manages to be quite humorous. There are times when we can actually hear what his character is thinking.

If this film had starred any other actor it would not have worked, if it had not had any other actor other than Michael Caine it would not have worked. The two of them mesh very well, Cage perfectly as the confused weatherman with a mind that never stops thinking about ridiculous things, and Michael Caine being the father who wants to be with his son as well making sure his grandchildren are in good hands.

This film relates a lot to last year’s “Sideways”—my favorite film of last year. I am not saying “The Weather Man” is this year’s “Sideways.” I would never rename a film into a relatable previous release, because once again, films have different personalities and with that they themselves are individuals. Though, both do portray men going through realistic mid-life crises’ that many people can relate to but in turn makes them humorous.

What’s really great about “The Weather Man” is that it’s a fairly smart film that shows different parts of a person’s personality and it shows. Cage’s character shows some uptightness on the street, but you can easily see he has a lot of kid in him and grows a taste for archery which helps him get through a lot of sadness and in way relieves his stress, helping his personality evolve even more.

Rated R for strong language and sexual content. Running Time 101 minutes