Nutcrackers Review – Holiday Dark Comedy Falls Flat
- Details
- Category: Streaming, Cable
- Published on Thursday, 21 November 2024 12:16
- Written by Janet Walker
Nutcrackers, from Hulu, presents a holiday dark comedy as four siblings are on the verge of being placed in foster homes after the death of their parents, just days before Christmas, unless their self-obsessed uncle has an awakening.
The film opens with Mike, played by Ben Stiller, driving a bright yellow Ferrari, through empty-barren, farmland in Ohio. He is working his cell phone, dealing with his office, trying to circumvent the circumventing office politics, before a big deadline on a deal that he has worked on for some time. It is the end of the year and, as his boss, Carol, voiced by Ari Graynor, indicates, this deal could boost his bonus. She explains he is needed back in the office, in Chicago, by Monday. So, three days should be enough to handle any issues with his sister's death, right?
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He arrives at a farmhouse, and the social services worker, played by Linda Cardellini, meets him at the door and hands him a brochure indicating the next steps for the children unless another solution can be found. He explains he thought he was just here to sign some papers, and to essentially do what you want with the kids, he has to get back to his job.
She tries to explain, it isn't quite that simple. As it is so close to Christmas, placement for all four will be difficult, and they may need to be split up, with the older boy placed in an institution for orphans. Still unfazed, Uncle Mike, is like shit happens.
Once he arrives at the house, which looks shockingly unkept, farm animals are walking through the house, it is more than messy, it makes them look like slovenly, and dirty, he does nothing to tidy the place up, not even the dishes, and doesn't even arrive with food, not even fast food. It is obvious he thinks nothing of them. As he has never met the boys, he has no family bond with them, and barely mourns for his sister, Janet, who had a promising career in the arts, studied in Manhattan and as Uncle Mike tells the story to the boys, left for New Jersey, gave up her dancing aspiration to hook up with their father.
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As the nephews have lived on a working farm, rights of passage like driving have come earlier for them. So, when Uncle Mike leaves his very expensive bright yellow Ferrari in the driveway the oldest, sees no issue with doing donuts in the field. Once they become convinced the car can jump a makeshift ramp.
As Mike is determined to get back to Chicago, he puts together a plan to pawn the boys off anyway he can. His first attempt ends in total failure, as the boys drive the gold cart into the pool. Not a good impression, and the second attempt, he helps the boys, who have been taught ballet by their mother, put on "The Nutcracker," for a one-night only show believing that if he can showcase the talents of the boys, they will have plenty of people wanting to foster them.
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Uncle Mike, played by Ben Stiller, is self-consumed. He is all about him, and it isn't like he is being selfish to regain strength or momentum, his character is simply selfish. Over the decades, audiences have become accustomed to Stiller's balance between sophomoric humor, and true comedy. At times he has been able to pull off the fish out of water, odd man out, humor with success. Nutcrackers is not one of those times. His character is mean, rude, unsympathetic in the most difficult situations, and even after what is presented as bonding, his character is cruel, uncaring, and unkind, and he plays it well. So well, in fact, he alienates the audience.
Yes, and even in the last minute or so when he has an epiphany, and all is wrapped up in a tidy bow, the film plays as if a sweet kiss at the end of more than 100 minutes of malicious, malevolent, actions make it all okay. By this time, the shock has rendered the audience devoid of emotion, as an actor audiences are accustomed to seeing deliver solid family humor now delivers with the same authenticity, pure meanness. It's abusive.
Nutcrackers premiers on Hulu, November 29, 2024. Skip it.
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Country: U.S.
Language: English.
Runtime: 104 minutes.
Release Date: November 29, 2024.
Director: David Gordon Green.
Producer: Nate Meyer, Rob Paris, Mike Witherill.
Executive Producer: David Gorden Green, Jody Hill, Danny McBride, Kelly Sims, Regina Steele, Rick Steele, Atilla Salih Yucer.
Writer: Leland Douglas.
Cast: Linda Cardellini, Ben Stiller Toby Huss, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Jena Sims, Atlas Janson, Arlo Janson, Homer Janson, Jeff Janson, Ulysses Janson, Maren Heisler, Louis Heisler.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and the International Federation of Journalists.
