Cage is Brilliant as The Weatherman

My flight from London was a cinematic delight. My first choice was The Weatherman, a film I had just read about on the previous flight. The film is about a Chicago weatherman who is pitiful in spite of his big salary...because he gets no respect.

Passersby throw milkshakes and fast food at him from cars, his ex-wife confesses she has always hated felacio with him because she hates him, his 12-year-old daughter is overweight and lethargic, sneaking cigarettes and is bored by him, and his son at 15 is in rehab, being pursued by a pedophelic counselor. But that is not the worst of his problems.

That job comes down to Michael Caine, who plays his Nobel Prize winning super successful father. Once again I found myself getting teary as I felt poor Dave try so hard to get his father to notice him, or just say anything positive about him. Pitifully, he leaves a letter on the seat of his car hoping dad would see it, but there is nothing but scorn from his dad. The world is killing him, but Dave fights back. He battles the demons one by one, and succeeds wildly. Facing a terminal illness, the father relents, he eeks out just a bit of recognition, he gives the poor son those words that he strives for. It is powerful and beautiful and made me weep once again.