"Better Nate Than Ever" on Disney+

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 2:33am

Releases today. So far it's received a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews. "Better Nate Than Ever" is produced by Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, and written and directed by Tim Federle (cowriter of Tuck Everlasting). The film stars Lisa Kudrow, Norbert Leo Butz, and Michelle Federer in principal roles, and introduces both Aria Brooks and Rueby Wood. 

Keep your eyes peeled for so many Broadway personality cameos throughout (akin to the recent "tick, tick... BOOM!". According to IMDB:

• Alex Wong
• Ellyn Marie Marsh
• Brandon Espinoza
• Mandy Gonzalez
• Priscilla Lopez
• Jacob Guzman
• Krystina Alabado
• Jared Goldsmith
• George Benson
• Eddie Cooper
• David Guzman
• Morgan Marcell
• Tamika Lawrence
• Ryan Steele
• NaTasha Yvette Williams
• Brooks Ashmanskas
• Kayla Davion
• Alexa De Barr
• Oliva Cece
• Ericka Hunter
• Mary-Mitchell Campbell
• Tilly Evans-Krueger
• Ahmad Simmons
• Ashley Blanchet
• Daryl Tofa
• Justice Moore
• Gabriel Amoroso
• Carla Duren
• Sharrod Williams
• Karla Puno Garcia
• Chad Burris
• David Michael Garry
• Jen Perry
• Michael Fatica
• Brandt Martinez
• Mike Baerga
• Cooper Lantz
• Zuri Noelle Ford

 

If there's anyone on this list that I left out... those who end up watching, please point them out! This should be an interesting watch; it will arrive on Disney+ at 3 AM.

Updated On: 4/1/22 at 02:33 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 12:55pm

I read the books and really enjoyed them. The trailer isn't really making me want to see this right away. It seems to be getting good reviews though.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 1:56pm

I watched it this morning and loved it. Yes, it’s for a young audience but it is completely charming, funny and sweet. And the lead is incredible!

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 2:10pm

I adored the books and look forward to seeing this. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 3:38pm

I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I felt the supportiveness/unsupportiveness by his best friend and family toward his dream was genuine to life. Though it had the typical kid movie ending, that didn't work against it at all. Broadway producers only wish it took a weekend to cast a major musical!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 5:58pm

It's cute. For some reason I thought it was going to be more of a musical though.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 6:09pm

Did anyone get to see Rueby Wood on tour in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I’d like to know how he was because he’s really, really good in this film. Also, I just love how b*tchy Ashmanskas and Alabado are as the casting directors. Lawrence as well, as the pharmacy cashier. 

It’s a cute movie, but what I think it’s missing is a big, memorable scene with a lot of the cameos involved, not unlike the Sunday brunch sequence in TTB.

[John Adams]

Posted: 4/2/22 at 10:40pm

I am not the target audience for this, but I think YA Gays deserve something better from Disney.

My two biggest gripes are:

1) There's a very real issue brought up in this movie that I know *I* certainly struggled with as a Gay YA. That issue being how to respond to the affections of a YA heterosexual female.

In the movie, his response is simply to raise his  eyebrows into an "Awwww!" face, and gingerly say, "I'm not like that." Any additional detail was left to be passed along by an anonymous elderly woman who conveniently happened to be on that bus. Also conveniently, the plot allowed him to make an immediate exit off the bus, while his best friend remained to go back home, alone. ...kind of a "hit and run", non-response to dealing with the situation.

I found that to be very unsatisfactory. I would have liked to have seen better, more intelligent and sensitive writing that offered Gay YAs a better model for how to respond to this scenario. It's a very tough situation. Nearly all Gay YAs have to deal with it at some point during those very squirrely adolescent years.

2) I could not get past the plot point that Nate was a viral TikTok sensation *only* in NYC, and *only* recognized by strangers he encountered on NYC streets. The adults he was auditioning for seemed to be completely unaware. If they were, they never acknowledged it. You'd think one of them would mention it while discussing his audition(s) amongst themselves. When he returned home, no one in his school seemed to have any idea that he'd gone viral while in NYC, either. ...very odd. 

I wasn't as big a fan of Rueby Wood as others. I thought his acting was way over the top, and broadly unnatural. I also didn't find his singing/dancing to be anything to write home about. I liked Lisa Kudrow as the Aunt, though. This is probably the the least "Phoebe"-conjuring acting I've seen her do since "Friends".

What I think YA Gays will most connect with is his relationship with actor Joshua Bassett as the older brother. Although they'll consciously acknowledge that the character is Nate's brother, I think YA Gay viewers will fantasize themselves into Nate's shoes, with Bassett being more an subject of attraction, rather than a brother. (I can remember doing exactly that kind of thing when I was that age.) Hearing Basset shout his line to Nate after his audition (no spoilers) will probably be fulfilling.

As I wrote earlier, I'm not the target audience for this movie, so maybe Gay YAs will be less discerning. As an adult however, I think Gay YAs deserve something better.

There is one (and only one) moment in this movie that I thought was incredibly witty and praise-worthy. Norman Leo Butz has a line at the end of the movie that I think *must* have been ad-libbed (given how cliched most of the scriptwriting is). It comes at a point where the mother tells Butz that their sons are finally getting along with each other, and relays an example. Keep an ear out for it... :)

Updated On: 4/2/22 at 10:40 PM

[sng]

Posted: 4/2/22 at 10:54pm

I'm surprised Ben Platt didn't star in the lead role

[fbueller]

Posted: 4/2/22 at 11:42pm

Lisa Kudrow elevates every project she’s in.  She always brings it!  

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/3/22 at 12:41am

When I saw tik tok mentioned I pretty much decided I probably wasn't going to watch it or at least not any time soon. But regarding him being a tik tok "sensation", I would not find it odd that the people he auditioned for didn't know. I just realized a few weeks ago I work with a person with endorsements and over 2M followers and had no clue. Viral doesn't mean everybody knows. Since it is set in NYC I would suspect it doesn't mean he is just viral there. It is odd that he is not at home however the people in his school may have interests elsewhere. Having read the books, I would figure at least some would know.

I chatted with a co-worker who watched it. I asked him if certain things in the book were in the movie and he said no. It seems they changed the ending from the book which is really annoying, if true. But it does say "based" on the book.