Simply A Masterpiece

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This film is funny and stupid! Ain't no such thing as too much Steve Martin, baby. Here Martin carries weak material, but it's a positive movie. This doesn't even qualify as "so bad it is good". This is merely "so bad it is bad". Still, I like all of the comedians here. There's something for everyone here. I love this movie, which is hilarious! Sounds corny? No matter what anyone says, this is utterly fantastic. I refuse to totally dismiss this, because I find it quite engaging, in a guilty pleasure sense. I thought this was cute and not bad. All of the fancy characters struggle against a system that has perpetuated falsehoods.

This movie was, well, a little nutty. It was fairly funny and erratic but overall good. It was mostly a hodgepodge of nutty characters (a transvestite, a psychotic santa, a suicide hotline staff, a very pregnant lady, your typical Adam Sandler character, etc.) and a bunch of strange situations. (a lady gets trapped in an elevator, they are about to shut down the hotline and evict them, the santa keeps tripping over a Christmas tree, Steve Martin dances with the transvestite, etc.) The movie mostly takes place on Christmas eve at a crisis hotline. It reminded me a little bit of Noises Off. If you have time to kill and enjoy a decent comedy-this is the movie for you! ** out of ****

Mixed Nuts reads like it should be a huge home-run. I think most people would agree it is pretty hard to make a bad Christmas movie. As long as you put all the pieces in place and make people feel good and display some sort of "magic of Christmas" concept, you're pretty much golden. Then factor in the Ephron sisters having written this adaptation, Nora Ephron directing and an ensemble casts of various comedians and Hollywood talent all led by the amazing Steve Martin. It reads like a zany madcap holiday adventure not unlike National Lampoon's classic Christmas vacation. The problem is that this is where it all falls apart. It is simply missing something, an x-factor that leaves you feeling unfulfilled and really not having as much fun as you should be having. I think part of the problem is that it simply tries too hard. There is so much going on and it tries to incorporate all of these loud boisterous characters that you get overwhelmed. It perhaps feels more, at times, like a TV pilot to a crazy sitcom than a holiday movie.I love Steve Martin, especially his early work. He is a legendary comedian for a reason. He tries very hard to lead this cast and he does well playing the no-nonsense and almost uppity leader of the hot-line. He even gets a chance, albeit in very small doses, to show off that legendary physical comedy that I love. But he doesn't really get to shine and somehow seems stuck. Madeline Kahn is good but very stereotypical as the shrill and very uppity Mrs. Munchnik. I enjoy her but she doesn't really get a lot of character development to make her character go anywhere. Juliette Lewis and Anthony LaPaglia are lovers stuck in a perpetual battle against each other. Their banter is good and I think I would have preferred to watch more of them than everyone else. Both are very good in their roles. Liev Schreiber probably steals the show as cross-dresser Chris. He is the one character that really stands out and has some great scenes and is such a quirky and fun character that you can't help but like him. Rita Wilson is Catherine, a dreamer who is in love with Steve Martin's character. Wilson is fun and has some great charisma on screen and her and Martin are good together but like Martin, her character is left unexplored and without enough depth. You will spot a lot of very familiar faces in the supporting cast including a young Adam Sandler being the same Adam Sandler he has always been, complete with that stupid voice that has never been funny. Rob Reiner in a small cameo role that doesn't really stand out but he's always fun to see and Robert Klein in an even smaller cameo role.I think Mixed Nuts just simply has way too much going on. I think the Ephron sisters were a little ambitious and tried to cram too many ideas into one small story. They could have focused more closely on the key characters and maybe cut out some of the more chaotic scenes and Mixed Nuts would have felt more balanced. I mean, Nora Ephron knows comedy and romance and even drama and they just felt like a half hearted attempt all around. It wasn't completely un-enjoyable. It did have its moments and has some genuinely fun scenes but I honestly didn't even find myself laughing at much of it and this is the type of movie that should have you in stitches. Its just an okay entry in the holiday movie genre and with such a crowded genre with so many classic favourites...you have to be better than just okay. 6/10

I was forced to watch this movie over Christmas break and it was so boring and not funny that I fell asleep half way through (which turned out to be a great move). People keep saying things like "Black Comedy" or "Subtle humor," but it has neither. If you want a black comedy than rent a good movie like Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski. Simply because it's about a suicide hot line at Christmas doesn't make it black, just stupid and drawn out. The jokes are lame and the plot is as exciting as a PBS documentary on the evolution of sand. A movie made for a paycheck in my opinion. If you want a funny Christmas movie that's actually funny than rent Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story, avoid this one at all cost.