The Nut Farm – REVIEW
Image: THE NUT FARM. film still
The purpose of comedy is to arouse laughter from audiences. It’s a shame the writers of this Aussie flick weren’t made aware of that ‘minor’ fact. Some movies are so bad that they’re good, but this comedic offering is just plain awful!
American comedian Arj Barker co-wrote and stars in this ‘comedy’ as Brendan Brandan (hilarious – not!) a San Francisco-based crypto trader who loses everything during an investment collapse. On a brighter note, he inherits a macadamia farm in a small town Down Under from an uncle he has never met who is missing and legally dead. But there’s a catch – he must deliver 20 tons of nuts by season end else the property defaults onto the next of kin.
So, he travels to Australia and takes on the challenge. But can he achieve this quota of 20 tons? What happened to his missing uncle who vanished under inexplicable circumstances and why are there two mysterious stereotyped dopey villains digging under his farm?
From the opening scene it’s quite obvious that what will follow is a comedy which should never have been produced let alone released into cinemas. The most important question that needs to be asked is whether there’s anybody courageous enough who will actually take responsibility for greenlighting this film beyond the script development stage.
Writing a funny script is difficult as highlighted by this cinematic train wreck which offers zero laughter and smirks aplenty. What may have appeared to be funny on paper obviously failed to translate onto film.
Cringeworthy dialogue, cheesy performances and excruciatingly bad attempts at humour via silly and contrived comedic sequences deliver an embarrassing and pathetic comedy in a class of its own.
The challenge is to attempt to sit through the whole movie without exiting the cinema and asking for a refund.
The Nut Farm which was hysterically described as a family comedy ticks all the right boxes for what is quintessentially an underwhelming comedy that belongs in its entirety, on the editing room floor!
★
In Cinemas March 14
I am pleased I did not read this review before watching the movie, because I really enjoyed it. Mind you, I have a deep technical history with the Fracking process and where the film headed with that, and I also happen to love the companionable piss taking that happens between New Zealand and Australia.
Sure, this is a film that might not appeal to the purist, but I am certain it is not meant to. My suggestion is to go and immerse yourself for an hour and half in some good old fashioned tom-foolery of the classic Aussie type.
For transparency, my daughter is in the film, but that has never stopped me panning a show before.