Pedro Pascal Perfects His Nicolas Cage Impression In Deleted Scene From The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent
"What do you say we cut the chit-chat, a-hole?" That's a line from Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, played by Nicolas Cage, in Michael Bay's 1996 blockbuster, "The Rock." Maybe you already knew that — and were even thinking it as you clicked on this article — but it might help to have a refresher on the origin of that line as you head into a new deleted scene from "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," which also stars Cage as a fictionalized version of himself.
Per the official synopsis, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" sees Cage "accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan" before "things take a wildly unexpected turn [and] Cage is recruited by a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones."
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is heading into its second weekend of theatrical release, but even if you've already seen the film, there are still some goodies from it that apparently didn't make their way into the final cut. This is one of those movies that probably has a boatload of funny outtakes, maybe even enough to compile into a supplemental short film like the 2020 "Borat" sequel did.
Speaking of things that float ("we all float down here"), Lionsgate has indeed released a deleted scene from "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," in which Cage and his co-star, Pedro Pascal, lounge on rafts and trade dialogue in a swimming pool. The phrase "embarrassment of riches" comes to mind. Check out the scene below.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent deleted scene
In the scene, Cage dares Pascal's character, that "dangerous superfan" Javi Gutierrez, to do his best impression "of anything ... a person, an animal, a machine." Naturally, Gutierrez elects to do an impression of Cage himself. That's when he busts out with the "What do you say we cut the chit-chat, a-hole?" line.
If we're being honest, he sounds more like Cheech Marin than Nicolas Cage, but Cage is a good sport about it, and he proceeds to give Gutierrez some line readings in a manner that is reminiscent of the scene in the Coen Brothers' "Hail, Caesar!" where a director, played by Ralph Fiennes, coaches Alden Ehrenreich on the intricacies of how to deliver the line, "Would that it were so simple." I'll confess that Cage/Pascal's scene won the war of attrition and had me chuckling along with it by the end.
Despite glowing reviews, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" had a disappointing first weekend at the box office, with a domestic gross of $7.1 million on a $30 million budget. If you haven't seen it yet, now's your chance: "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is in theaters now.