Ignored by the Academy Awards, The Weather Man struck a chord with certain critics and audience members. Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski took the reins of this film which attempts to imitate American Beauty (1999) in its probing dissection of the emptiness of the American pop culture and its emphasis on materialism, fame, and artificially constructed measures of "success." Writer Steve Conrad creates a world in which the title character lives in utter emotional depression despite having all the outward "success indicators" society craves.

Oftentimes funny, The Weather Man is nevertheless a disappointment. The dialogue is often strained and one is left with the impression that the film tried too hard to exhibit the symbolism and depth of an American classic. It's ironic because the very societal acclaim it seems to condemn leads to its own downfall when the film tries to create memorable one-liners and symbolism that just don't work.

The Weather Man follows the life of local Chicago weatherman Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage) who lives an ideal life by traditional American standards of success. His salary is in the mid-six figures. He only works two hours a day and his job requires no thought. He can be right, he can be wrong; it doesn't really matter. Meanwhile, he's been short-listed as a prime candidate for the most desirable weatherman job in the world, lead weather guy for Hello America, a nationally syndicated morning show on one of the major networks. By most people's standard, Dave has it made. But reality is a totally different picture.

In Dave's world, he's constantly haunted by his own father's success and his desire to live up to his expectations and gain fatherly approval. Robert Spritzel (Michael Caine) is a celebrated American author who won the Pulitzer Prize at age 33, a man respected by almost everyone in the world. But Dave's inability to meet his father's high expectations strains their relationship.