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Best known for such laugh-out-loud comedies as Meet the Parents, Tropic Thunder and Zoolander, Ben Stiller is no stranger to making a fool of himself on screen to get a laugh out of audiences. Whether it's taking a prat fall or being the butt of a joke, the 58-year-old actor has certainly earned his spot as one of the genre's most well-known actors. It's an achievement that has afforded Stiller the opportunity to focus his efforts on being behind the camera the last few years. But with his first leading role since 2017's Brad Status, Stiller is proving the old adage that you can't always judge a book by its cover, as he and director David Gordon Green set out to tell the humorous yet heartwarming story of a strait-laced businessman who unexpectedly finds himself the legal guardian of a group of unruly orphans. Michael Maxwell (Stiller) is a confirmed bachelor who's prioritized work over family, foregoing the intimacy of real human relationships in favor of furthering his career as a director at a real estate firm. When his younger sister, Janet, and her husband, Steve, tragically pass away in a car accident near Christmastime, however, Michael is forced to reprioritize his life, putting a major land redevelopment deal he's working on on the back burner and driving his yellow Lamborghini from Chicago to the plains of Ohio, where Janet and Steve lived in a humble farm house with their four children. Now orphans in desperate need of a placement in the foster system, Justice, Steve Jr., and twins Samuel and Simon (newcomers Homer, Ulysses, Arlo and Atlas Janson) aren't the type of kids most foster parents would be eager to bring into their home. But can Michael use his business-savvy skills to convince the town's wealthiest couple to take in this belligerent foursome? Or will they take a shining to him and, likewise, will he grow to love them as his own, as he slowly gets to know his nephews and earn their trust? Coming from Green and Danny McBride, who collaborated on such films as Pineapple Express, Your Highness and the revamped Halloween trilogy, you might assume that the result wouldn't miss an opportunity to go for cheap laughs. Surprisingly, though, Nutcrackers is more of a low-key comedy drama with a handful of rambunctious moments, rather than a boisterous laugh-fest. Make no mistake, there are still a few chuckles to be had. But for the most part, audiences will find this story of found family more tender than it lets on. |
Nutcrackers screens under the Gala Presentations programme at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Its runtime is 1 hr. 44 min.
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