The Breadwinner Review: Nate Bargatze and Mandy Moore Can't Save This Throwback Comedy

Some comedies can coast along on a familiar setup and a couple of solid laughs. Others get derailed by choices so odd you just have to wonder who was calling the shots behind the scenes. 'The Breadwinner', Nate Bargatze's latest outing, manages to be both – sort of a throwback to old-school domestic comedies, but also a showcase for product placement so blatant you'll think your telly's turned into a rolling advert.

Plotting, with Extra Branding

The basic premise couldn’t be simpler: Nate Wilcox (played by Bargatze himself) is your average car salesman, and the film practically clubs you over the head with that fact from the off. It opens with one of those clunky ‘Hello, I’m X and here’s my job’ narrations most writers gave up on decades ago. Here, though, it instantly sets the tone for what’s coming – a film where subtlety is parked somewhere out of sight.

Nate’s wife Katie (Mandy Moore) lands her big break after giving a pitch on ‘Shark Tank’. With Katie off chasing career glory, Nate has to look after the kids. Cue the usual ‘hapless dad out of his depth’ routine, dialled up to nearly daft levels. It’s a play right out of the ‘Mr. Mom’ handbook, and the script doesn’t seem in a rush to update it much for 2024.

This Isn’t Just Product Placement – It’s Product Obsession

I’d be remiss not to mention the film’s true co-star: brand logos. The Toyota dealership where Nate works isn’t just a workplace – it’s practically a shrine. The branding doesn’t just hang about in the background; it’s actively being shown off, scene after scene. You’d think Toyota were about to launch their own streaming service at this rate.

The brand onslaught doesn’t stop there. There’s a particularly surreal moment involving a giant bucket of KFC, the Colonel’s mug front and centre for what feels like a suspect length of time. But the crowning moment has to be when, in a sudden gear-shift, the entire family heads to Walmart for a sequence so glossy and staged, it plays like a commercial break inside the film itself. The chanting. The camera swoops. You’re half-expecting someone to whip out a rewards card and start listing the everyday savings. It's so brazen, you almost have to admire the chutzpah.

Cast and Comedy

• Nate Wilcox: Nate Bargatze playing, to be blunt, an overwhelmed and mostly clueless father.
• Katie: Mandy Moore, doing her best with a role that mostly amounts to being the competent half of the marriage.
• Supporting turns: Colin Jost and Kumail Nanjiani show up and, frankly, lift the thing whenever they’re given some space. Special mention for a genuinely sharp bit during Katie’s ‘Shark Tank’ pitch, where the real sharks send Nate onstage mid-mouthful of doughnut, tanking the deal in one well-timed visual gag.

The Flaws (and a Few Merits)

The main gag here is that Nate just can’t parent – he doesn’t know where the kids go to school, can’t work out basic daytime routines, and is, in general, a walking calamity. It’s vaguely funny once, but by the fifth or sixth repeat you start to question his fitness to mind a goldfish, let alone children. The script keeps going back to this well for laughs, which gets tired.

That said, every so often, the film stumbles into something that does land. When jokes tilt slightly more adult – without going too lowbrow – the writing sharpens up. The aforementioned ‘Shark Tank’ sequence actually works, and Jost/Nanjiani get some bits that are funnier than the main thread. Sprinkle in a couple of moments where Nate’s evolution is almost sweet and you get flashes of what could have been a stronger family comedy.

Eventually – and predictably – Nate improves, learning to actually pay attention to his family. It’s eye-rolling in its obviousness, but doesn’t feel totally forced. You might not fully forgive his dopey start, but there’s some honest effort from Bargatze in the role as he stumbles towards competence.

Even the Credits Are Selling You Something

It bears mentioning that the product placement never lets up. Even in the closing credits, outtakes are chopped up with bits of Bargatze’s stand-up, which by that point feels more like yet another bit of cross-promotion than a lark. There’s even a throwaway line about a Ring camera – as if the editors simply couldn’t resist one last plug.

Final Thoughts

'The Breadwinner' is stuck in two minds – it wants to be an old-fashioned heartwarming family tale, but can’t help tripping over its own obsession with logos and brands. If your expectations are on the floor and you’ve got a high tolerance for commercialism in your comedies, it’s not unwatchable. Just be ready for what might be the most earnestly enthusiastic shoutout to Walmart you’ll ever see on the big screen.

SCORE: 6/10

As ComingSoon's review policy spells out, a 6 means 'Decent.' Room for improvement, but it gets the job done if you’re after something light for the family.