MovieChat Forums > Uncle Nick (2015) Discussion > The movie is mostly a misfire

The movie is mostly a misfire

posted 7 years ago by franklindf
2 replies | jump to latest

This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but I feel like they tried to hard to make the characters realistic or rounded. For instance with Uncle Nick, he is not just some alcoholic clown, they introduce all this other stuff to make him a more complex character who has a number of good qualities buried beneath the surface. It turns the movie into something more like a drama with some shades of comedy. But I think the movie would have been more successful if they just went all in on the comedy instead and made the movie more black and white, similar to movies like 'Bad Grampa' where you have a trouble-making older male who is unhindered by morals or decency. For instance, the restraint that Nick had with his niece was just a little bit of a frustrating tease and it didn't work for comedy. It's not like Nick's restraint even helped her either, she was a relentless slut and just slept with someone else instead - so the moral message fell a bit flat. I think what I'm saying is the movie seemed to struggle with finding a voice, or a tone, and instead stumbled around quite a bit in uncertain territory.

[–] EvilMovieWatcher 7 years ago

I don't think the niece was necessarily a "slut" at least not in the way you are insinuating. She was definitely emotionally broken from her parent's divorce and Uncle Nick's brother was obviously taking advantage of her being unstable and looking for male attention. The way their sex scene played out she didn't look happy at all during it she looked like she was on the brink of crying and was definitely using language that would suggest she was in need of older male approval.

This is ultimately why Uncle Nick backed out of a "sure thing" with her. He realized something wasn't quite right about the situation. It also likely had to do with his sister giving him a wake up call. She was a young attractive 20 year old girl, it would make no sense wanting to have anything to do with Uncle Nick in that way.

[–] grizz227 7 years ago

Would not consider it a misfire at all... I think the writer/director, and very talented cast hit EXACTLY what they were aiming for... Slightly hyperbolic, black comedy, that showcases the absurdity of familial relationships. A nice little gem that I just caught on netflix.
And, I think, the restraint was reflective more of his closeness with his sister and having the trust to heed her advice and take a step back from the lonely, alcohol-glazed, fleeting level of horny and not *beep* his twenty year old (step?)niece. Who it seemed was using inappropriate quickies with step-dad to overtly illustrate to her Mom that she was in a pretty bad place after her Mom cheated and subsequently divorced her Father.

Cheers. And Merry Christmas.