Movie · 2024 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 44m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.1/10 (45.1K ratings)
The holidays can drive you nuts.
Overview
Just as Mike is on the heels of closing the biggest deal of his career, he's pulled away from his bachelor life in the big city to a farm in rural Ohio in order to help his recently orphaned nephews find a new home.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.1/10
IMDb: 5.5/10
Letterboxd: 2.69/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
Metacritic: 54
TMDB: 5.8/10
Director
David Gordon Green
Production
Rough House Pictures, Red Hour, Rivulet Entertainment
Cast
Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Arlo Janson, Atlas Janson, Toby Huss, Maren Heisler, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Ari Graynor, Ashley Rae Spillers, Lucy Zukaitis, Bryant Carroll, Louis Heisler, Noah Fisher, Isabella Steele, Dominick Marrone, Vasily Deris, Jerome Agean
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A gentle, familiar holiday-family dramedy with a strong central performance from Ben Stiller, but it’s uneven, sluggish, and often feels like it’s borrowing beats from better movies. If you like earnest small-town redemption stories and don’t mind a predictable path, it has enough warmth to work.
Best for
viewers who enjoy sentimental family comedies with a holiday backdrop
fans of Ben Stiller’s more restrained dramatic-comic work
people who like rural-set fish-out-of-water stories
audiences who are forgiving of familiar, comfort-food plotting
Skip if
you want a sharp or especially original comedy
you need a movie that fully commits to either drama or laughs
holiday-movie clichés annoy you
you prefer brisk pacing and a tighter script
Overview
Nutcrackers is built from very recognizable parts: a stressed-out city guy, a rural family crisis, and a bunch of kids who force him to rethink his life. The setup is sturdy, and Ben Stiller gives it a lived-in, low-key sincerity that keeps the film from collapsing into pure sentimentality. There are moments where it feels like it’s reaching for a warmer, more old-fashioned kind of studio comedy-drama, and those moments are often the best thing about it.
Worth noting
The problem is that the movie never quite decides how funny, how moving, or how Christmas-y it wants to be. It drifts, repeats familiar beats, and occasionally feels like it’s chasing a version of itself that already exists in better form. Still, there’s enough charm in the performances and enough sweetness in the premise to make it an easy watch for the right audience.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a modest, slightly shaggy holiday dramedy, this can go down smoothly. If you’re looking for something sharper, more original, or more emotionally precise, it’s likely to feel like a near-miss.
Top Letterboxd reviews
˚✧jayne˳✧༚ (4★) · 822 likes
sorry but i’m a sucker for a “we’re having a major plot issue that can only be solved by putting on the best gosh darn talent show this town has ever seen” movie!!!
nikki (2★) · 482 likes
ben stiller is better than me i’d be out of that house and away from the kids after ten minutes
Rhett (2.5★) · 437 likes
The Holdovers junior
Jaemart (4★) · 323 likes
Suddenly fell in love in the second half not cause my curmudgeon heart got soft cause it literally got better
wersku (2★) · 306 likes
Boobies + privates= babies
A good idea for a movie, but it feels a bit sluggish and fails to be either a proper comedy with some laughs or a serious drama. I can't really get a grip on it, which makes it neither memorable nor a heartwarming experience for me. It can feel heartwarming but something is missing, it felt odd.
That one kid with the rabbit head was terrifying. Mischief and discomfort. The film features wrongdoing and life changes… more
2018 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 58m · PG-13 · Curator 3.8/10 (137.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A similar blend of comedy and emotional responsibility, with a grown-up learning to handle sudden caregiving chaos.
2003 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · PG-13 · Curator 6.0/10 (51K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A holiday-family story that balances awkwardness, tenderness, and the emotional messiness of home.