'The Breadwinner' Review: Nate Bargatze Leads the Funniest Feature-Length Ad You've Seen in a While

A Sony-produced family comedy centers on Katie Wilcox, a stay-at-home mom who gains entrepreneurial stardom after a major opportunity. Her success forces her husband, Nate Wilcox, to step away from his job and take on full-time parenting responsibilities for three children. The film presents mostly forgettable family hijinks as Nate attempts to become a halfway good dad against difficult circumstances. Gender politics are portrayed in a direct way, and the comedy is described as aggressively manicured and filled with product placement. The movie is framed as decent compared with other mainstream releases, especially for viewers willing to accept broad laughs over cinematic depth.

"That lucky break means Katie's cute but hapless husband, Nate Wilcox (Bargatze), suddenly has to step back from his role as Salesman of the Year at a local Toyota dealership, too. Then, over the next two-ish hours of mostly forgettable family hijinks, audiences must helplessly watch as Nate attempts to become a halfway good, full-time dad to his three kids... against... all... odds!! [Insert airhorn here.]"

"The gender politics in "The Breadwinner" aren't exactly subtle, but almost nothing is in Sony's aggressively manicured comedy about the American middle class today. Co-written by Bargatze and Dan Lagana, this strange yet intermittently hilarious misadventure actually works best when you stop resisting the eerie sense that you've wandered into a feature-length TV ad break - and start embracing the clearance-aisle philosophy that suggests any theatrical comedy is better than none at all."

""The Breadwinner" is truly decent compared to many mainstream releases coming out of the studio system right now, and if you're willing to trade genuine cinematic sightseeing for a few broad laughs and a lot of product placement, then Sony has really got you covered. That's not saying much for first-run offerings with both humor and heart, to be sure. But Appel's contribution is a small win just the same."

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