Chicago weatherman David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is living the life most of us dream: he's a celebrity, makes a six-figure salary working two hours a day, and is on the short list for the meteorologist job on a national morning show. But his professional successes are overshadowed by his personal failures. He's divorced from his wife, his kids are slipping away from him and even his Pulitzer Prize-winning father (Michael Caine) won't take him seriously. Part American Beauty, part About Schmidt, The Weather Man takes a closer look at living a meaningful life in a fast-food world.

STARRING:

Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Michael Rispoli, Gil Bellows

SCREENWRITER: Steven Conrad

DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski

RUNNING TIME: 101 minutes

STUDIO: Paramount

Average Hollywood Guys Rating: B

• The big wigs at Paramount wanted this film to be shot in Canada even though the story takes place in Chicago. Both Nicolas Cage and director Gore Verbinski insisted on the film being shot in Chicago to make it look real. However, when the film was shot it was too warm in Chicago for snow to be on the ground, as a result the production crew had to make fake snow for the whole movie to match up with the snowy time frame in the script.
• The Frosty spoon that gets stuck to Cage's jacket was actual a metal spoon that was painted to look like a plastic one. This was done so that a magnet could hold the spoon in place while the dialogue was being exchanged.
• Nicolas Cage recorded all of his interior monologues at a sound stage before shooting began, and then it was played back to him on set before he filmed the corresponding scene.