'Nutcrackers' Reviews: "Nutcrackers sticks to the basics, and with a story like this, it's hard to mind that too much."

         On November 29, 2024, Hulu released 'Nutcrackers', which failed to unite critics, becoming a not only a critical miss but one of the worst films of 2024 in my personal opinion. In the film, which has received a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, "A strait-laced man finds his life suddenly upended when he becomes the caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews." The ensemble cast includes Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Toby Huss, and Tim Heidecker. Read the full review round-up below.

        Ross Bonaime of Collider notes, "Nutcrackers sticks to the basics, and with a story like this, it's hard to mind that too much." Adding, "Nutcrackers' tried-and-true story works because of the dynamic between Stiller and the Janson family. At first, as one would expect, this starts as a them vs. him dynamic, but as they start to warm up to each other, their awkward bond works. For example, Mike attempts to tell these kids a bedtime story, and when they demand gore and violence, he adapts and tells them the story of First Blood, which expectedly ends with nightmares. When the kids hang out on the roof of their ramshackle house, or eat nutritious meals of cheese balls and ketchup, Mike holds back, allowing these kids to do their thing, a temporary observer of the insanity that won't be his problem for much longer. Stiller's deadpan reaction is perfect for this type of situation, mixed with the Janson kids and their unhinged behavior is an ideal yin and yang to each other."

       Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com says, "There's a certain degree of casting luck that barely holds some of David Gordon Green's "Nutcrackers" together at times too, but this one falls apart the most of the three. The director of the recent "Halloween" and "The Exorcist" reboots introduced his film on Opening Night by name-dropping "Uncle Buck" and "Bad News Bears," and one can easily see the DNA of both films in here. But it's a deeply frustrating film, constantly pushing away what it does well to hit sitcom road markers along the way. It should have trusted its very simple, effective premise instead."

Photo by Kevin Fitzgerald on Unsplash

       Benjamin Lee of Guardian writes, "It’s do-it-in-your-sleep territory for Stiller and to his credit, he does more than just sleepwalk through it, but his character is hazy and underwritten and the script so utterly, shamefully devoid of humour that he’s reduced to regressive pratfalls." Continuing, "It’s the kind of hackneyed setup that would typically have attracted Christina Milian or Lacey Chabert and there is perhaps something more interesting, and less uneasily gendered, about a male lead turning his back on work-centric big city life for the comforts of the farmhouse. But it’s still reliant on the same rusty stereotypes about work (bad) and family (good) and Douglas’s script isn’t funny or affecting enough to distract us from the lazy formula of it. Green’s attempts to elevate it are briefly effective – it’s at times like a more commercial version of his earliest movies – but they only serve to confuse. What is it we’re watching here and who is it for? The more accomplished the film-making becomes, the more we then expect the script to level up too."