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Mixed Nuts
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Wikipedia article
'Mixed Nuts' is a 1994 American Christmas dark comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, based on the 1982 French comedy film 'Le Pre Nol est une ordure'. Co-written by Ephron and her sister Delia, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Rob Reiner, Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, and, in his first film role, Liev Schreiber.
The film was released theatrically on December 21, 1994, and was both critically and commercially unsuccessful.
Plot
In a coastal California town on Christmas Eve, ex-con Felix is seen running from his angry, pregnant wife, Gracie, as she chases him down the road. He accidentally runs into and damages a Christmas tree carried by two rollerbladers. When an argument breaks out among them, a stranger, Philip, unsuccessfully attempts to calm them down. They soon disperse.
Philip, head of the suicide-prevention hotline "Lifesavers", receives an eviction notice from his landlord, Stanley, after being unable to pay the organization's rent for several months. In addition to him, the hotline is staffed by the selfish, neurotic, and rather fearful office manager, Mrs. Blanche Munchnik and the overly emotional and empathetic supervisor Catherine O'Shaughnessy. Philip, who does not inform his coworkers of the eviction, attempts to convince his girlfriend, Susan, who is a loan officer in a local bank, to grant him a small loan. She refuses the loan before telling him that she has been secretly dating a psychiatrist for four months and is breaking up with him.
Despite Catherine's expectation that Christmastime would bring multiple crises to solve, the staff has received few calls. There is one phone call from a woman who is frightened by a notorious Los Angeles serial killer dubbed "the Seaside Strangler," and another from Chris, a trans woman, who feigns depression to convince Philip to disclose the Lifesavers' office address. Meanwhile, an elevator malfunction leaves Mrs. Munchnik trapped on her way to Christmas Eve dinner. Philip eventually manages to pull her to the top of the elevator when Gracie arrives and attempts to operate it. They are terrified that they will be crushed by the ceiling of the elevator shaft, but eventually they all manage to return to the office.
Felix arrives, begging Gracie to listen to him, and she hits him in the head with a fruitcake, concussing him and causing a large cut on his forehead. Philip and Catherine take him to a veterinarian to be treated for his head wound. While the doctor is distracted discussing relationships and pillows with Philip, Felix steals and quickly overdoses on dog tranquilizers and is taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, at the office, the doorbell rings. Gracie quickly throws the door open, accidentally striking Mrs. Munchnik and revealing Chris in the doorway. Gracie leaves Chris to care for the unconscious Mrs. Munchnik. When Philip returns, Chris is sitting on the sofa and convinces Philip to dance with her. When Mrs. Munchnik awakens, she witnesses the dancing and threatens to sue Philip for withholding information of the eviction and for inappropriate office behavior before leaving.
Soon, Gracie, Catherine, and a downstairs neighbor named Louie Capshaw, all return to the office with Chinese food. Meanwhile, after getting her her car fixed by the car club, Blanche encounters the fruitcake again, as it has landed and crashes through her windshield, after Philip has a fit and throws it out of the office window. She is distraught, sitting on her car bumper, as fellow neighbor Mr. Lobel walks up to her with his three dogs in tow. Lobel comforts her and Munchnik realizes that she has loved Lobel for a long time. Together, they flee to the beach and have sex in the lifeguard's office.
An hour later, Felix arrives at the office brandishing a gun, having escaped from the hospital. Chris gets shot in the foot after attempting to disarm him. Gracie takes the gun and shoots wildly around the office to empty it of ammunition. Two shots go through the front door, killing Stanley (having been called by Catherine to fix the elevator earlier), who was standing behind it with a bag of his possessions. The sight of the dead Stanley puts Catherine in shock. Philip prepares a bath to calm her down confesses his love to Catherine, who reciprocates. They have sex in the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Chris takes a one-sided interest in Louie and attempts to flirt with him. Louie reprises his earlier appearance and sings impromptu songs on his prized ukulele. Gracie and Felix disguise Stanley's body as a Christmas tree with burlap and super glue, and the decision is made to take it and the bag to the boardwalk and leave it there.
As they all carry Stanley's body down the street, they encounter the now-vengeful rollerbladerstheir previous two Christmas trees having been destroyed by Felixwho barrel through them in order to destroy their "tree".
Felix tosses the tree and it crashes to the ground, revealing Stanley's body. When the police arrive, Philip falsely confesses to the killing, but Gracie pulls out the gun as proof of her guilt. Felix grabs it and runs to the roof of a nearby building, where he threatens to commit suicide. Philip convinces him to climb down, to much applause. Catherine hands Stanley's bag to the detectives, who search it. They find fishing line and kelp, the weapons of choice for the Seaside Strangler, revealing Stanley as the Seaside Strangler.
For killing the criminal, Gracie receives the reward of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. She uses this money to satisfy Lifesavers' debts and prevent their eviction, then promptly goes into labor. She gives birth at midnight on Christmas Day, in a scene that parodies the Nativity of Jesus. Philip then asks Catherine to marry him the same day, and she obliges.
At the end credits, Felix, who quit his job to paint murals, was finally commissioned and his career takes off from there. His first commission has him painting everything he told Gracie he would paint once he had a wall.
Cast
* Steve Martin as Philip
* Madeline Kahn as Mrs. Blanche Munchnik
* Robert Klein as Mr. Lobel
* Anthony LaPaglia as Felix
* Juliette Lewis as Gracie
* Rob Reiner as Dr. Kinsky
* Adam Sandler as Louie Capshaw
* Liev Schreiber as Chris
* Garry Shandling as Stanley
* Rita Wilson as Catherine O'Shaughnessy
* Parker Posey and Jon Stewart as Rollerbladers
* Joely Fisher as Susan
* Christine Cavanaugh and Henry Brown as Police officers
* Brian Markinson as Policeman / Voice of obscene caller
* Steven Wright as Man at pay phone
* Caroline Aaron and Mary Gross as Hotline callers
* Victor Garber as Voice of irate neighbor
* Haley Joel Osment as Little boy
* Michael Badalucco as AAA driver
* Sidney Armus and Diane Sokolow as Chris's parents
* Kurt Lockwood as Rollerblading Snowman (uncredited)
Soundtrack
# "Mixed Nuts" by Dr. John 2:29
# "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Fats Domino 4:08
# "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt 3:26
# "Jingle Bells" by Eastern Bloc 2:25
# "Blue Christmas" by Leon Redbone 2:24
# "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" by The O'Jays 5:14
# "Mixed Notes" by George Fenton 3:48
# "Grape Jelly" by Adam Sandler 1:25
# "Christmas Melody" by George Fenton 2:54
# "The Night Before Christmas" by Carly Simon 3:39
# "Silent Night" by Baby Washington 3:23
# "White Christmas" by The Drifters 2:41[http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=8307 'Mixed Nuts' (1994)]. SoundTrackCollector.com.
Release
The film opened on December 21, 1994, and made $2,307,850 in its first weekend, ranking number 12 in the domestic box office. By the end of its run, it had grossed a mere $6,821,850.
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 13% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 3.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "'Mixed Nuts' may provoke strong allergic reactions in all but the most undemanding filmgoers - and the most forgiving Steve Martin fans." On Metacritic, the film had a weighted average score of 14 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.Janet Maslin's review in 'The New York Times' mentioned a corpse depicted in the story and wrote that the film "is about as funny as that corpse and about as natural." 'Variety' staff wrote, "Director/co-scripter Nora Ephron pitches the humor at a cacophonous level and displays the comedic equivalent of two left feet in evolving an absurdist, slapstick yarn. Truly alarming is watching some fine performers, including Kahn and LaPaglia, at their very worst." Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' wrote "The movie has a first-rate cast and crew; it's Nora Ephron's first directing job since the wonderful 'Sleepless in Seattle' [...] Maybe there's too much talent. Every character shines with such dazzling intensity and such inexhaustible comic invention that the movie becomes tiresome, like too many clowns." Michael Dwyer in the 'Irish Times', reviewing it upon its European release, called Ephron's film "a truly pathetic effort", and "one of the worst films I have ever seen".
Year-end lists
* 5th worst Desson Howe, 'The Washington Post'* 10th worst Robert Denerstein, 'Rocky Mountain News'
* Dishonorable mention William Arnold, 'Seattle Post-Intelligencer'
* Dishonorable mention Dan Craft, 'The Pantagraph'
See also
* List of Christmas films
* Box office bomb
References
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