How Nutcrackers Combines a Real Story & 1980s Classics

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As a movie enthusiast with a soft spot for nostalgia and heartwarming stories, I find myself utterly intrigued by David Gordon Green’s latest creation, Nutcrackers. The tale of an uptight businessman navigating the chaos of rural farm life after the loss of his siblings feels like a modern twist on the classic family comedies I grew up watching.

David Gordon Green discovered the tale behind Nutcrackers in his friend’s yard, though it was more like finding it there. Nutcrackers is Green’s heartwarming new holiday drama about a stiff-necked businessman (Ben Stiller), whose structured life is turned upside down when his sister and brother-in-law pass away, leaving him to care for their four young children on their farm in the wake of their deaths. The origins of Nutcrackers can be traced back to Green’s own impressive directorial debut, George Washington, which took place 25 years ago. During that time, he developed a friendship with the second unit cinematographer. In a recent MovieWeb interview, Green recounted how this friendship led to the making of Nutcrackers: history was born from it.

“I’ve just kept up with her. She dropped out of the movie business and went back to Ohio, where she’s a fifth-generation farmer. So she dropped back to take care of the family farm. I’ve just kept up with her through the years. Then, when I went back to Ohio a couple years ago, I had a cameo in Luca Guadagnino’s movie, Bones and All. It was filming an hour and a half outside of Cincinnati, in this rural area. I said, ‘Hey, that’s like 20 minutes from where Carrie lives.'”

Green went ahead and phoned her, then dropped by to spend time with her and the children. They were at an age where they were managing the farm, riding motorcycles, and dancing ballet – all these things he found captivatingly unique. He wanted to capture their unusual blend of insanity, charm, and charisma on record.

However, the development of the story didn’t stop at that point as Green harbored a strong desire to undertake a daring venture in a genre of cinema that was relatively uncommon and less explored in recent times.

The Classic Family Holiday Comedy

In a somewhat jaded world, perhaps long accustomed to its cynicism, filmmaker David Gordon Green saw an opportunity – or rather, a challenge – to create something different. Instead of following the trend of exploring the depths of darkness that characterizes much of today’s cinema and television, Green decided to take a fresh approach. He wanted to veer away from the norm and lean towards something more soothing. In search of inspiration, he turned to the nostalgic classics of his own childhood.

As a kid who grew up watching ’80s movies with a farm-saving theme, I saw a tale here that felt reminiscent of those classics, like the fish-out-of-water story of Uncle Buck, or the fun-filled chaos of Overboard, or even the heartwarming Kenny Rogers film, Six Pack. That’s why we shaped this project with the ambition to be a contemporary take on Uncle Buck and satisfy that lingering itch for something like The Bad News Bears, since I’ve yet to create a family movie or a Christmas flick in my career.

The primary reason for making this kind of film wasn’t just to offer contemporary audiences a more uplifting experience, but also to provide Green’s family with something they could watch after his extended stint in the grittier corners of cinema (such as the latest Halloween trilogy and Pineapple Express). As Green put it, “My children are not allowed to view my work due to its explicit content.” Remarkably, the boys who play the roles in Nutcrackers (the Jansons) are around the same age as Green’s own kids.

While creating this film, we often spent nights at the farm, sleeping in the barn alongside the cast. It was truly enjoyable watching everyone become animated, resulting in a project that felt remarkably familial in nature.

Casting Ben Stiller & Embracing ’80s Nostalgia

For Green to successfully achieve this, however, he required an actor (who had been absent from leading roles for a while) with the ability to comprehend the intricacy of his vision and skillfully execute the complex subtleties. Luckily, he found his ideal candidate in Ben Stiller.

Ben stands out as one exceptional comedian among a tiny group of incredibly gifted performers who possess both comic timing and dramatic depth. Not only is he an outstanding director off-screen, but on-camera, he exudes a unique charm that makes me laugh, and even when something is genuinely funny is taking place, there’s always a sense of truth, authenticity, or underlying dramatic intention behind it.

As a movie enthusiast, I pondered that this approach would enhance the content, as it does seem to embody many familiar tropes we’ve been discussing. One aspect I appreciated was its nostalgic nod to the ’80s. We’re not attempting to redefine cinema here; rather, we’re crafting a film that falls within that genre. That was the initial query Ben posed: “Are we making this with an ironic twist? Are we creating one of these films?” In our dialogue, we shaped it into what it is today.

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2024-11-23 03:01