Mixed Nuts | | Cast : | Steve Martin | | Director : | Nora Ephron | | Studio : | Columbia Tri-Star | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Full Screen | | Released Date : | December 21, 1994 | | DVD Released Date : | December 04, 2001 | | Language : | Unknown (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 01, 2005 | | Summary | False Advertisement illeagle laws | Content
 | Buyer Beware this is not the first time columbia tristar has done this the dvd package states on the back side a is a widescreen 1.85.1 aspect ratio and side b is full frame format. But there is no side a widescreen. Once again illeagle procedure and false advertisement that should result in lawsuites. BUYER BEWARE |
| Rating | | | Date | June 18, 2005 | | Summary | Manic In Venice, CA. | Content
| I was on a comedy watching jag recently and this 1994 Nora Ephron effort (the follow-up to her critcal and commercial success SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE) was among the many that I finally got around to after all these years. Now I read enough reviews to have at least an inkling as to how well received a given film was--even if it was released eons ago. And I knew not to expect all that much from MIXED NUTS. Still like so many of the films viewed in my "comedy catch up" splurge, it at least had a promising cast, and the writers and directors had a certain pedigree. How bad could it be?
Well, while not an unmitigated disaster, MIXED NUTS certainly merited its mixed reviews. Nearly all the actors have their moments to shine. Unfortunately, they also have have downright embarrassing ones too. It's all a bit too loud, a bit too madcap for its own good. The film's setting: a suicide hotline on Christmas Eve is promisingly dark. Of course, you just knjow that the workers are going to be case studies themselves. Everyone is, in fact, rather zany, with the possible exception of Rita Wilson's good hearted, but bumbling spinster who is just a bit more on the depressive side. But they all have issues. And therein lies the comic potential. If it's not quite the lunatics running the asylum, it's the neurotics running the hotline. Give 'em credit for taking a few chances (Nora could have given us SLEEPLESS II, which essentially she did a few years later with YOU'VE GOT MAIL), but outrageousness for outrageousness' sake is always an iffy proposition. And here it ultimately doesn't work.
A re-make of a French comedy (PERE NOEL EST UNE ORDURE), the film does seem to have something of a Gallic feel to it. About as Gallic as it gets in Venice, California anyway. And that may be part of the problem. Remakes of French films don't usually work that well to begin with. If the film's premise veers toward the absurd, Hollywood heavyhandedness can prove fatal. That would seem to be the case here.
Overall, a sad waste of talent.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 05, 2005 | | Summary | Comedy's a personal thing... | Content
| What makes one person laugh might make another cringe, so I can only offer my personal opinion on 'Mixed Nuts' and say that, personally, I found it one of the worst comedies ever made. The French original, 'La Pere Noel est une Ordure,' was not a great movie, but it did have some very funny gags and, amid moments of hysteria, had some beautifully underplayed comic moments. Unfortunately, this much lighter cover version is played at top volume and fever pitch almost from the start and is frequently just painful to watch. It boasts a talented cast (and Adam Sandler, here at his most irritating ever), the script isn't exactly terrible, but everyone seems to be overcompensating for the film's deficiencies so excessively that it is embarrassing to watch as Martin falls over for the umpteenth time for no good reason or Madeline Kahn hams it up to the point where you can feel the nausea rising in the back of your throat.
The two major offenders here are Nora Ephron's pitiful direction and George Fenton's horrendous score, a classic example of 'Mickey Mousing' the film to point out "here come the jokes" in the knowledge that you wouldn't notice them otherwise. Like too many of the players, they're both trying way, way too hard and clearly have no trust or confidence in their material.
For those familiar with 'Pere Noel,' the tone is lightened considerably - the dead body is no longer an innocent bystander but an unsympathetic character, and he no longer ends up fed to the zoo animals, for example. On the plus side, Juliette Lewis is nowhere near as bad as her French counterpart, Anthony La Paglia is okay, Rob Reiner very good in a nothing part and Liev Schrieber is good as long as he isn't required to do anything too ridiculous. But it's all too easy to believe the look of disgust on Martin's face near the end is real and only too clear that everyone involved knew that they were on a sinking ship with no lifeboats. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 07, 2004 | | Summary | Great cast... | Content
| ...great fun...I could not disagree more with the Amazon review or any other negative reviews..Ya just didn't get it...
If you like any of the people in this, esp. Madeline Kahn, you will love it...Anthony LaPaglia and Juliette Lewis are great together, the opposite of her role in Natural Born Killers...
Sentimental, off-beat and VERY funny...Just go with it, don't over-analyze...A few little drinkies and friends might make it more fun for some (like me), but NOT necessary....
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| Rating | | | Date | November 30, 2004 | | Summary | Despite all the right ingredients...tastes terrible! | Content
| Quite simply one of the least funny comedies I have seen. The cast alone should ensure that it at least raises a giggle if not a belly laugh, however it just isn't there.
The only movie I have ever turned off three quarters of the way through. I think that pretty much sums it up. |
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