• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Dec 13, 2024 By Scott Howard Web Exclusive

There’s a surprising amount of heart in this Hallmark-like effort from leads Ben Stiller and the Janson brothers. You might expect Nutcrackers to be your run-of-the-mill feel-good holiday film, shamelessly dropped onto a streaming service. The outcome, however, is much better than expected as its subject matter circles loss, family, fulfillment, and resilience with a sprinkle of coming-of-age comedy.

Ben Stiller stars as Mike Maxwell, a Midwest developer pulled away from a career-defining contract to temporarily care for his recently orphaned nephews after an accident turns their lives upside down ahead of the holidays. Mike presents heavily as a trope-worthy, fish-out-of-water as a big-city transplant forced to adhere to the rural lifestyle of his recently departed sister in rural Ohio. After meeting social worker and potential love interest, Gretchen, Mike is encouraged to spend the weekend with his nephews to bond ahead of sending them off to the foster care system. Over the course of the narrative, Mike struggles to wrangle the batch of nutty misfits in chuckle-worthy acts that never veer too far into a comedic tone. Make no mistake as the viewer, these children are grieving and Mike is forced to figure out how to fill the void of these children’s lives with nearly zero people skills. This builds the framework for a film that stands slightly above its peers—but only slightly.

As the story unfolds, a deeper look into Mike’s estrangement from his sister is explored, revealing she moved from New York City as a successful ballet dancer to build a life with her husband, living off the land and raising her brood of surprisingly worldly and insightful sons. The children are a force to be reckoned with as they work together as one unit to continually push Mike out of his comfort zone with their farmhand know-how. Every nephew in the movie has a brief chance to shine and show what each of them brings to the table, but due to the short runtime, it was hard to feel that each of them received an adequate amount of attention.

Every one of its leads explores their roles within Nutcrackers’ admittedly concise story. Stiller molds his performance to express a sense of confusion at the seemingly savage nature of his nephews while aiming for a more introspective exploration of his need to understand the lost potential of his sister and the universe she built for her kids. The rest of the cast does everything they can with the script they were given. The Janson boys are always a delight on screen. A stand-out among them is Homer Janson’s Justice, who focuses his performance with a tinge of sorrow and drive to keep his home together as the eldest of the Kicklighter clan. Justice is clearly looking for a new father figure to attach himself to, but carries it with the weight of a child whose support system has been irrevocably shattered. Linda Cardellini taps into her All-American girl charm to bring anything she can to her role as Gretchen and yet there is frustratingly minimal time to explore her character motivations outside a small amount of exposition.

Director David Gordon Green and writer Lenland Douglas disguise their vision as an average Christmas film that seems to have a bit of an identity crisis, as the desire to break its genre is clearly there. There is a puzzling issue where they keep Mike obtuse until very late in the film, as it’s never entirely clear whether his affection for the boys is leaning towards wanting to keep them or if it’s just enough to want to make sure they find a foster home so he can get back to his life. Green manages to bring the film full circle in a scene where Mike realizes he loves his nephews with a touching callback to a conversation earlier in the movie. This one sequence lends itself to a beautiful, crystalizing moment of realization that anchors the final moments of the film to an idea that is more than the sum of its parts.

That being said, Nutcrackers is a great film to watch going into the holiday season. It carries a beating heart that most of its contemporary Christmas peers seem to lack or handle in an overly maudlin way. The narrative tries its best to elevate the genre but falls slightly short of its goals, nevertheless offering up a unique and heartwarming experience that one could hardly regret experiencing. The moments of greatness are there in this memorable, and slightly sparse, Christmas tale. Honestly, that’s just enough to make it a satisfying watch.

Author rating: 6.5/10