Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage), an appropriate name for this Chicago TV weatherman, lives a life just this side of overcast. His fans, however, expect him to be as happy while standing in line at the DMV as he is on the evening news. He’s separated from his wife Noreen (Hope Davis) and his two teenage children. His son Mike (Nicholas Hoult) is being hit on by a male high school counselor and is experimenting with drugs. Daughter Shelly (Gemmenne de la Pena) is somewhat overweight and has some major self-image issues. Dave’s father, Robert Spritz (Michael Caine), is a highly successful writer who, unlike his son, was able to balance his career objectives and still be a caring and attentive father and husband.

Dave’s issues are many. Although he gets lots of sexual action because of his local celebrity status, he has no illusions about his personal magnetism or sexual prowess. Dave wants his wife back but she has moved on with Russ (Michael Rispoli), a man who may soon move into Dave’s comfortable suburban home with Noreen and the kids.

Mike and Shelly are very important to Dave, and he spends time with Shelly trying to encourage her participation in activities she’s only superficially interested in, such as ice-skating and archery. Dave kind of likes the archery and he begins practicing on his own, and takes to carrying his bow and quiver of arrows slung across his arm, as he navigates the Chicago streets. He thinks he’s in touch with son Mike and sets a goal for a Nikon camera for the boy, yet Dave’s in a state of malaise and feels a bit sorry for himself, so he misses key signals that something is wrong with his son. The elder Robert Spritz, however, does not. Dave’s chance to see both the grandeur of the forest and the simplicity of the trees of life doesn’t become clear until his father is diagnosed with an illness that could be fatal.

One messed up guy, Dave makes more than a quarter-million dollars a year and never seems to have more than $21 in his pocket. At times, when he wants to offer comfort or lend support to his father with the small purchase of a cup of coffee or a newspaper, he comes up short.

What does perk Dave up is the chance at an Al Roker-type job on national TV in NYC, with an income package of more than one million dollars a year.

The acting in the film is superb. Cage is quirky yet he maintains a life much like you and I. We may meet many of our career and personal goals but there are some important things that are not going our way. Having an optimistic All-American attitude, Dave believes that tomorrow will be better than today. Michael Caine is the perfect father who only speaks when he has something to say worth listening too. The two children show that while being a parent is not easy, it is a path worth taking. It’s not a job; it’s something that most people want to do in life.

The writing by Steve Conrad is spot-on. Gore Verbinski is the director ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and two sequels currently filming). There is one crucial moment in the film when Cage assumes a warrior-like stance, bow and arrow at the ready, amid a cluster of trees, it’s only Lincoln Park in Chicago but he is primal man, ready to defend. He removes his gloves and you’re sure what his next move will be. At least you think that you do.

"The Weather Man" is analogous to many things in life. The wind can change quickly and we cannot control it. We do however, find a way to navigate toward our goals, even though we may have to take a course that we did not expect.