Cascanueces

Yikes

A big Chicago hot shot named Michael (Mike) must return to smaller life when his sister passes away and leaves 4 kids parentless. He is going back to try and sort the foster parent situation, as things are on hold he must spend the weekend with Justice, Junior, Simon and Samuel. The boys who prove to be a lot will also be an extra heave in trying to find them a new home. The question is will Mikes personal life take importance over the relocation of his nephews.

It's a really good idea for a movie but it feels like nothing clicked, the kids are grieving but acting like feral animals at one minute and an hour later are perfectly fine, this happens a lot in the movie.

There are some heartfelt scenes and the acting isn't an issue, I just feel the movie wasn't Christmas themed bar the last 20 minutes. It was long and boring at times unfortunately, I don't recommend, maybe watch a classic instead, 4/10.

I really do not understand the harsh reviews. This is a sweet film. Not a typical Christmas film maybe, but also nothing groundbreaking. The boys, all real life brothers, are excellent. I didn't think they were obnoxious characters as other reviewers have suggested, just young kids grieving the loss of both parents! It's not too cheesy or schmaltzy, I laughed out loud a few times (it's gently funny rather than hilarious). This was my first Christmas film of 2024 and a nice gentle one to start the season off. I suppose people expect more lights and music and adventure, plus general cheesiness with a "Christmas" film so perhaps that's is why eating are bad. It's just a nice Sunday afternoon type film. I enjoyed it. Only real criticism is zero diversity. Not really any excuse for that these days.

David Gordon Green shifts gears and makes a holiday drama with a premise that's familiar all the way. You know how everything's gonna go down, so the least you'd expect is some Ben Stiller-modeled laughs. There's not much here in the way of humour, except for one very random John Rambo bedtime story. The screenplay offers absolutely no surprises, although this isn't the kind of film that's insufferable to sit through, with mushy melodrama and overblown Christmas aesthetics. For those who were expecting a Christmas classic, well.. this AIN'T it. I'll pick Bad Santa and Violent Night over this any December. And if I need well-written drama, I'd go for The Holdovers.

I went into watching this movie thinking that it was another Ben Stiller slapstick comedy. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised that Nutcrackers isn't that. It's hard to capture in words, what makes it good. Yes, it's heartwarming, funny and somewhat light, but it's the kids, their animals, and their rural environment that end up capturing your heart. I wasn't surprised when I later read that the boys are actually brothers in real life and that it was filmed on their family's actual farm. Ben Stiller was good but seemed a little out of place in the flow of things - but I guess that was the point wasn't it? :-)

I'd watch anything with Ben Stiller in it, at least for a little while, and the little while here was pretty short. To tell the truth, I thought that this was a sure shot for our aging beloved Ben: an aloof businessman learning to love and become a father, as his sister died leaving him four preteen children.

And the kid actors are spot-on on how children behave after such a loss, becoming belligerent, full of angst, and looking for relief by being wild and unruly.

So it has all ingredients to become a tearjerker Christmas drama, but it wants to be an 'uncomfortable' comedy like Meet the Parents, or at least want to be sold as such. And that doesn't fly. Too much mourning and death for such a light-headed comedy it wanted to be. It doesn't fit.

It is set in farm, so it is also a fish out of.water situation for businessman Ben, from where half the 'jokes' come from; all the lazy tropes you already saw a thousand times: Does businessman Ben step on poop as soon as he leaves the car? Yes. Does Ben wake up with animals in his bed? Yes. Is Ben provoked by the kids to kill a chicken for supper? Yes.

And by then I turned off the movie, so take this review with a grain of salt, but whatever happens later in the movie, is already tainted by the tired writing by the numbers and the financial choice to tone down real life drama to fit into a feelgood comedy:

'I guess it is true what mom said about you,' says the older angst sad kid out of the blue in their first interaction.

'What is that?' Clueless Ben asks.

'That you can't love...'

'That is... stupid'

Indeed. Stupid writing. And also so on the nose that bleeds.

It is 2024, when we have access to all sorts of libraries of entertainment, including classics that done these same themes over and over, and you may ask yourself why you are wasting your Christmas time with this movie instead of those. Perhaps because this movie can make you happy that you don't have to deal with four sad hyperactive kids who lost their parents that you would never be able to replace.

Good photography, though.