Review Pans Nate Bargatze's 'The Breadwinner' as 1990s Dad Comedy With 3 Daughters
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 28
Review Pans Nate Bargatze's 'The Breadwinner' as 1990s Dad Comedy With 3 Daughters
13 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 28
Critics cast Bargatze’s first film as a stale, self-flattering suburban-dad vehicle, saying his deadpan stand-up persona does not translate well to a feature comedy ensemble.
The 1-hour-35-minute plot puts Nate in charge of the house and three daughters after his wife leaves to expand a Shark Tank-backed business, but the review says the movie turns invisible domestic labor into overblown affluent-family whining.
Will Forte drew the strongest notice among several Saturday Night Live alumni in supporting roles, while Bargatze was described as rhythmically adrift beside him and in end-credit outtakes.
Director Eric Appel’s film was compared unfavorably with Adam Sandler’s weaker late-2000s comedies and even old Simpsons episodes, with only a few household gags landing as the movie opens in U.S. theaters.
Can Nate Bargatze's stand-up fame save his critically panned movie from bombing at the box office?
With a $25M budget and poor reviews, is the classic family-friendly comedy a dying genre in theaters?