Major Cast Members
Steve Martin as Philip
Madeline Kahn as Blanche Munchnik
Robert Klein as Mr. Lobel
Anthony LaPaglia as Felix
Juliette Lewis as Gracie Barzini
Rob Reiner as Dr. Marshall Kinsky
Adam Sandler as Louie
Liev Schreiber as Chris
Rita Wilson as Catherine O'Shaughnessy
Garry Shandling as Stanley Tannenbaum
The bizarre Pacific Northwest weather has me a bit befuddled. The calendar says it’s June, but it feels like November, with the grey overcast clouds, relentless drizzle, and bone-chilling winds. This puts me in the mood for either ritual suicide, or reviewing Christmas movies. Hell, I’m a pretty greedy guy, so why not try a sample of both? This sounds like the perfect opportunity to review one of my favorite Christmas movies, which inexplicably and almost fittingly, was critically dead-on-arrival and a box-office flop.
The comedy is called Mixed Nuts, and I’m still not sure why it was such a disappointing draw back in 94. I don’t even recall it being in theatres. I came across it randomly as an evening film while deployed on a ship in my Navy days. I found the DVD several years later in the discount/closeout section of a video store. It’s been a holiday tradition in my family ever since.
Normally, I use the term “guilty pleasure” as an excuse for enjoying a movie that received mixed reviews, or is panned by critics and movie fans alike. But with Mixed Nuts, I honestly have no clue why this film dropped below everyone’s radar. It’s entertaining, it’s amusing, and it has Steve Martin just before he settled into the comically-sentimental, elder-statesman phase of his career. Someone with a degree in film study needs to educate me on this one because I see no reason why this movie has been snubbed by so many for so long.
I’ve found that the harshest critiques pan the film as yet another bastardized Hollywood reinvention of an exceptional foreign film. Mixed Nuts is remake of very popular French comedy, Le Père Noël est une ordure (1982). I had no idea that Mixed Nuts was a remake nor have I seen the original French film, so I suppose I don’t know what I’m missing. But seeing how Mixed Nuts stands on its own merit and is one of my favorite holiday films, I think I can live with missing-out on the first film.
Mixed Nuts is a dark comedy that centers on a suicide-prevention hotline center called Livesavers. On Christmas Eve, Philip receives an eviction notice that will effectively force the crisis prevention hotline to fold. Philip tries to conceal the notice from his colleagues until he can decide how to resolve the problem. But before he can even begin to tackle this obstacle, events are set in motion that create new obstacles, and Philip finds himself in a quagmire that only seems to get worse with each passing hour. Only a Christmas miracle can help them now…
The story is rich with characters and interwoven subplots that seem to collide and build on one another, making for rich and often hilarious scenes. Philip is the lead crisis-prevention analyst and excels at his phone work. Unfortunately, he is a neurotic, self-absorbed trainwreck in nearly all other facets of his life. Blanche is a curt, dry, jaded widow who seems to lack the compassion and empathy typically required of someone in suicide-prevention. Catherine is nearly the polar-opposite of Blanche, sensitive, caring, and vulnerable nearly to a fault. She’s such a hamster that she can barely function. Still, there is a quiet strength beneath the surface of her meekness, one that I wish the writers would have explored a bit more. But hey, it’s a comedy! Oh, and Catherine has more than just a passing crush on Philip. And if you think the staff of lifesavers is a bit nutty, just wait until you meet their clients, friends, and callous, sadistic landlord, Stanley Tannenbaum. Oh, Tannenbaum…
At the film’s beginning, the cast of characters all have gaping voids in their lives that they’ve all managed to ignore or delude themselves into not acknowledging. The events of Christmas Eve force each character on an inward journey of self-discovery, and along the way, most are compelled to confront the sad truth of their existence before they can move forward. Is this the Christmas miracle? Yes, but not really. I’m not giving that away.
I would describe this film as a bubbling cauldron starting with a slow simmer. Honestly the simmer was so slow that it almost lost my attention in the beginning. But I stuck with it, and I was rewarded as the film boiled over and the jokes came at such a rapid-fire and layered pace that I almost had an asthma attack. Even the requisite hallmark Christmas feel-good moment was off-beat and somewhat dark-humored.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but when it comes to Mixed Nuts, either everyone else is crazy, or I am. And I’m taking a hard stand here; this is a criminally underrated movie. No soft-shoe, no backpedaling, no “guilty pleasure”. Mixed Nuts is a great holiday movie with a great cast and it would be crazy for anyone to say otherwise.
(Let me put it another way; I haven’t seen that new Adam Sandler “Zohan” movie yet, but I don’t have to light my pubes on fire to know that it might be uncomfortable. All I have to do is imagine or take my best guess, and that’s good enough for me. If you’re on the fence about “Zohan” like I am, save your ten bucks and rent Mixed Nuts for two bucks. Not only will you get to see Adam Sandler in a more acceptable role as a supporting actor being intentionally funny, you’ll have eight bucks left over for snacks. You’re welcome.)
Oh, and did I mention that the setting of this totally awesome Christmas movie is sunny southern California, complete with palm trees, environmentalist-douchebag rollerbladers and snowmen made of beach sand? No? Well then, there ya go.
Story: A
Acting: A
Visuals: B
Originality/Innovation: B
Enjoyability Grade: A
Date Material: A
Contemporary Element (Will it be watchable two decades from now?): A
Overall Grade: A-
*** Blind Eye Turning: Poems, Prose, and other Scribbles, by Barry Dawson
Buy it at www.lulu.com
