David Gordon Green’s Nutcrackers is a jolly effort headlined by Ben Stiller’s welcome return back in front of the screen. The film is simple, yet immensely charming - reminiscent of the traditional holiday fare, but possessing a much sharper execution.  

 

The story revolves around the Kicklighter boys: Justice, Junior, Simon and Samuel getting into hijinks purposefully or not, ruining their chances of being adopted within their small town. The young cast is wonderful together, their chemistry is entirely genuine, as the boys are in fact siblings in real life. Unfortunately though with them being non-actors, their dialogue does occasionally get lost in translation through their performances. The eldest child, Justice, brings the most gravity to his performance, allowing the audience to see his relationship with his uncle evolve throughout. Stiller plays Uncle Michael (Mike), the unknowing parental figure that’s sprung into small town USA from big city life with little knowledge of what his next days with the boys would entail. 

 

Nevertheless Nutcrackers isn’t all merry, with several scenes suffering from triteness that upends the moments of pure connection with the Kicklighters and Uncle Mike. The story’s occasional missteps combine with its misuse of the supporting talent to leave more flaws than positives throughout entire portions of the film. These supporting talents include Tim Heidecker as the local deputy, who has a moment or so of levity, but is rarely seen. The Kicklighter boys best opportunity of being adopted through Halloween (2018) alum Toby Huss as Al Wilmington, a wealthy local businessman. Friend of Al, Edi Patterson’s Rose, who is the most intriguing character outside of the main family. Patterson delivers a mysterious performance that makes you question if Rose is an awful human or just incredibly weird. The worst offense being Emmy Nominee Linda Cardellini, who is needless in her role as Gretchen, merely there as a plot device to guide Stiller on his path to finding his fatherly instincts within the unfortunate circumstances. While sounding crucial, Gretchen is barely in the film. 

 

The somber tale of these kids losing their parents due to a tragic accident and Stiller’s uncle awkwardly giving his time away from his career (including an overly impatient boss) is compelling, albeit predictable to a fault. The titular Nutcrackers may dive further into the overarching plot than I’m even considering, because I’ve never to this day seen The Nutcracker ballet or any interpretation. For instance, Nutcrackers has its insertion of the ballet for a pivotal part of the final act, however the reasoning for its existence I only wish was given deeper clear meaning. Unfamiliar with that production, I was still locked into the idea of the performance and the fascinating final resemblance of the “classic” production we received. 

 

Green has been on a horror getaway over the last few years and now returning to the world of indie cinema, Nutcrackers may not fully envelop the director’s intended comeback. The film lacks flair in its direction and that’s to bring us down to reality, as well as to understand the situation these young kids are in. As an Ohio native it is satisfying to see the rural areas of the state be put to screen in such a satisfying fashion. It felt like home… because it is home. 

 

Nutcrackers has its charms, laughs and hidden delights - but ultimately it’ll come down to how much you need to be in the holiday spirit. It's not going to be an instant classic, for many it’ll be serviceable for the season, but for some it might just become a comfort film for those needing something a bit higher quality than the usual repetitious made for television content.