Few directors have had successful careers with as many wild swings throughout as David Gordon Green has. Green started out with indie classics like George Washington and All the Real Girls before shifting to broader comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness. This was followed by a series of films that couldn’t be easily put into a specific box, like Prince Avalanche, the Nicolas Cage-starring Joe, and the vastly underrated Jake Gyllenhaal drama, Stronger. In the last few years, Green has taken another sharp turn, creating a new Halloween trilogy and the failed horror reboot, The Exorcist: Believer. Yet even when prioritizing horror over the last few years, he’s found time to direct episodes of The Righteous Gemstones, just one of many television projects he’s worked on with his frequent collaborator, Danny McBride. Whenever you think you might have David Gordon Green figured out, he finds a way to pull the rug out from his audience.

Green has made yet another turn with Nutcrackers starring Ben Stiller, who hasn’t starred in a film since 2017’s Brad’s Status, and has had his own interesting career shift lately, focusing more on directing award-winning shows like Severance and Escape at Dannemora. A more straightforward family film than we’ve ever seen from Green before, and written by Leland Douglas, Nutcrackers is a dramedy that hits many of the notes you’d expect, but it’s hard to not fall for this found family story.

What Is ‘Nutcrackers’ About?
Stiller stars as Mike, who works in real estate in Chicago, and has to go to Ohio to take care of his sister’s kids after she passes. Mike has a big presentation coming up in a few days, and needs to figure out what to do with these four kids (played by real siblings, Homer, Ulysses, Arlo, and Atlas Janson) so he can go back to his normal life. Yet when Mike gets to their home, he finds a quartet of wild kids who do what they want–including a recent stint sneaking into a carnival and breaking one of the rides–and in a house packed with loose animals, dirty dishes and plenty of evidence that these kids do whatever they want, whenever they want. Gretchen (Linda Cardellini), who works in child and family services, is struggling to find a foster family who will take four rambunctious kids, seeing Mike’s supervision as a temporary solution to a permanent problem. With Mike working on a short timetable, he tries to find someone willing to take his nephews before it disrupts his life.

We’ve all seen films like Nutcrackers, and from that description, you can probably tell where this fairly by-the-numbers story goes. Before the world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Green said he wanted to make a film “without viciousness or cynicism,” and the type of film that was like the movies that made him fall in love with movies. In that regard, Nutcrackers certainly succeeds. It’s a film that isn’t interested in breaking the mold, but rather, using that mold to tell a delightful story that warms your heart, a comforting but unique take on a holiday film. Like the family at the center of the film, Nutcrackers is rough around the edges, but it’s lovable in a shaggy way.

It’s Great to Have Ben Stiller Back in a Charming Comedy
Image via TIFF

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.

Naturally, it becomes more than that, and when it does, Nutcrackers finds its groove in the third act. Again, it’s formulaic and the most predictable part of this film, yet the way Green’s film captured this evolving relationship is quite well done. ​​​​​​Even though the film’s denouement is a sequence that feels thrown together because the film needs a big third-act show of love, it works because of these performances and the heart that this film gives off in spades. In a way, Nutcrackers is more akin to Green’s earlier indie work, reined in to focus on the narrative at hand, and at times, reminding of George Washington in its portrayal of kids who are seeking to make it in this world despite the tragedies they’ve already experienced.

Another Surprising Shift for David Gordon Green Mostly Pays Off
For a filmmaker who has always tried to do the unexpected, Green finds a nice balance of his sensibilities with the standard beats of a traditional family dramedy. While Green’s Halloween trilogy attempted to break the rules of the franchise and go for something wholly unique for that series, or put his twist on the stoner comedy or sports film, Nutcrackers is decidedly playing along with the spirit of the films that clearly inspired it. Sometimes, a film doesn’t have to challenge the preconceived norms, it can work within the boundaries of the genre to make a decent version of a story we’ve heard many times before. Green seems to have grown up with those films and simply wants to make his own film in this tradition, and largely does just that with Nutcrackers.

Green has reinvented himself in so many ways, and has tried so many unique endeavors, it’s no surprise that Nutcrackers is mostly successful in trying something a bit more straightforward in its approach. Stiller and the Janson clan are a delight, and it’s great to see Green attempt something completely different once more after this long stretch of horror films. Nutcrackers sticks to the basics, and with a story like this, it’s hard to mind that too much.

Nutcrackers had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.