Ben Stiller Elevates A Generic Holiday Plot That Saves It From Familiarity

As the holiday season kicks into high gear, so too does the arrival of a new crop of movies centered around themes of love and family. While Netflix gleefully throws itself into the Hallmark-esque brand of holiday romance and cheer, Hulu has a decidedly different kind of offering, albeit with some heartwarming moments of its own. Nutcrackers is a family dramedy that isn’t exactly sentimental, yet it still somehow achieves a sincere conclusion.

The movie is directed by David Gordon Green, who in recent years has dabbled more in iconic horror franchises (Halloween, The Exorcist: Believer) than straightforward family sagas. He demonstrates a deft hand at directing child actors here — perhaps not surprising after last year’s Believer — though the whole thing would fall apart without a strong, experienced actor at the center. In his first major acting role in several years, Ben Stiller steps into the role of harried workaholic Michael, whose world is turned upside down within the first few minutes of the movie.

Nutcrackers Follows An Expected Path

…For Better Or Worse

Mere days before a vital work meeting, and three weeks before Christmas, Michael must trade Chicago for rural Ohio to sign off on some final documents regarding his sister and her husband’s deaths. Expecting everything to be perfunctory, Michael is thrown for a loop when he learns his four nephews — played by real-life brothers Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Arlo Janson, and Atlas Janson — have nowhere to go and must, in the meantime, remain under his supervision until a suitable home is found.

However, though you can probably guess Nutcrackers’ resolution just from reading the logline, you can’t shake the feeling that it is simply following expected plot beats.

Michael is soon stuck in a house with pigs roaming inside and a mountain of dirty dishes in the sink, struggling to wrangle the unrestrained children. And unrestrained is definitely what they are. Nutcrackers opens with the boys breaking into a local amusement park and hopping on one of the rides. When Michael first arrives, they silently watch him from odd positions while wearing masks, a small testament to Green’s recent horror escapades. We never get a clear sense of how the boys were raised before losing their parents, save for their homeschooling, but we can only assume discipline varied.

Green and screenwriter Leland Douglas effectively portray Michael’s fish-out-of-water situation, as well as the tenuous bonds between him and his nephews. Though you can probably guess Nutcrackers‘ resolution just from reading the logline, you can’t shake the feeling that it is simply following expected plot beats. Michael seems to acclimate to the boys’ personalities and lifestyles fairly quickly. He’s strangely willing to kill a live chicken for them, despite never having done so before, yet we still get the familiar third-act wrinkle of the kids feeling rejected by him. This development feels more tacked-on rather than a natural progression.

Nutcrackers’ Performances Make It Stand Out

Ben Stiller & Homer Janson Are Excellent

Though Nutcrackers‘ actual plot isn’t the most original, it’s significantly aided by the performances. It’s nice to see Stiller back onscreen in a meaty role, with the beloved actor finding great depth for Michael in the quieter moments where he’s left to reminisce about his late sister. Linda Cardellini is charming in her role as the family services worker attached to the boys’ case, and Edi Patterson has a brief but amusing part as a foster mother who is a bit too eager to take on the four kids.

As for the kids themselves, they prove to be adept performers, aided by the natural chemistry they have from being brothers in real life. Homer Janson, who plays the eldest child, Justice, could be an actor to watch. Out of all the kids, Justice appears to be the one who feels the loss of his parents most keenly, and he takes on a mature role around his brothers while still grappling with adolescent issues of his own.

Homer shifts between all these elements with ease, showing the hurt that lingers under the surface of his wilder actions. He’s also a very graceful dancer, something that comes into play later on in the movie.

Nutcrackers elicits some chuckles and aww’s, but it’s not a standout family drama. Still, I suspect it will win over a decent amount of viewers, particularly because its ending is constructed so beautifully that it outshines the movie’s weaker moments. With Stiller at the center, Nutcrackers is a solid, if not incredibly memorable, holiday effort.

Nutcrackers will begin streaming on Hulu on Friday, November 29. It is 104 minutes long and not currently rated.