By David Baldwin
Michael (Ben Stiller) is a big-time real estate developer in Chicago. He has a huge presentation coming up but needs to sign foster forms in person in rural Ohio for his four nephews first. Their parents were just killed in a car accident and despite having not seen the family in over a year, Michael is the next of kin. To his shock, he quickly learns upon arrival that he must stay with his nephews until a foster family is located and are open to adopting all four siblings.
I am sure you can guess where NUTCRACKERS goes from here. Well, maybe not Michael trying to foist the kids onto other families or their wanting to put on an alternative version of the Nutcracker ballet that one of the kids wrote. You get the gist. For better or worse, Director David Gordon Green’s newest film – this year’s Opening Night selection at the Festival – does not pull any punches when it comes to practically anything. It is designed and engineered to be a crowd-pleaser that has you laughing one minute and then weeping the next. It succeeds in both spheres for the most part, whereas others magnify the film’s many problems (chief amongst them that it is simply too longwinded in its current form and would benefit greatly from being trimmed down).
Stiller is lovely as Michael (or Uncle Mike as the kids call him) and it is a real treat to see him back in front of the camera after so long, in a role that feels very much at home with the rest of his oeuvre. Linda Cardellini appears as the adoption agency case worker helping Michael find a foster family for the kids and does good work with a thankless role. The film could have used much more of her. The real highlight of the NUTCRACKERS cast though is the film debuts of Home, Ulysses, Atlas and Arlo Janson, who play Michael’s nephews. They bring a genuine, lived-in experience to each of their scenes and get many of the Film’s best laughs. The emotional intimacy and vulnerability they bring to each scene is terrific and genuine. Let’s hope this is not the last time we see them on screen.
NUTCRACKERS screens at TIFF ’24:
Thursday, September 5 at 6:00PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
Thursday, September 5 at 8:00PM at Roy Thomson Hall
Thursday, September 12 at 1:00PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Saturday, September 14 at 12:45PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
For advertising opportunites please contact mrwill@mrwillwong.com