Movies - The Weather Man

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	Movies - The Weather Man

The Weather Man is a 2005 comedy drama, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine. The film tells the story of David Spritz (Cage), who is a very successful Weather Announcer on his local Chicago news program, but is seen by both others and himself as a failure in all areas of life outside his career. The film is directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Steve Conrad, and grossed a total of 12.2 million dollars in the domestic Box Office

Plot

The story follows Chicago weatherman David Spritz and his average family. Separated from his wife (Hope Davis) with the possibility of either reconciliation or divorce, Dave spends his time in a daze. While his job is exceptional and well-paying, he finds himself dead on the inside for a job that doesn't require much except to speak and point. That, and the fact that he's a local celebrity both loved and loathed by the Chicago masses, who in no short order, don't resist the chance to insult him or throw junk food at him.

As for his home life, Dave understands that he hides in the shadow of his very successful father (Caine), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has cancer. He has a pre-teen daughter who smokes and is the butt of a running joke among her classmates, and a troubled son (Nicholas Hoult) who is basically a good kid, but friends with a strange man (Gil Bellows), who is his rehab counselor.

Spritz is offered a place on a nationwide breakfast television show that requires a move to New York City and has to find balance between his blossoming professional career and his neglected personal life.

Cast

Nicolas Cage
as David Spritz
Michael Caine
as Robert Spritzel
Hope Davis
as Noreen, David's ex-wife
Gemmenne de la Peña as Shelly, Dave's daughter
Nicholas Hoult
as Mike, Dave's son
Michael Rispoli as Russ, Noreen's new husband
Gil Bellows
as Don
Judith McConnell as Lauren

Reception

The Weather Man received very mixed reviews from the media, gaining an overall score of 60 on both and . The most praised review of the film perhaps came from Roger Ebert, who gave the film three and a half stars in his review. Despite this, the film earned only 12.2 million and did not see a long theatrical release.

Awards

In an interview with Academy Award Nominator Chuck Howards, it was said "The Weather Man's director of cinematography, George Still, was seriously considered as a nominee. However, the Academy chose "Good Night and Good Luck" instead.

Trivia

The "plastic" spoon stuck to Nicolas Cage's lapel and seen on the theatrical poster was actually a metal spoon held in place by a magnet that had been painted to appear plastic.
Much, if not all of the snow in the film was created from scratch as the weather in Chicago was warm during filming in February.
The producers urged the film to be filmed in Canada to cut production costs, but Gore Verbinski and Nicolas Cage insisted it be filmed in Chicago for authenticity.

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