{"id":14532,"date":"2026-05-30T16:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T20:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=14532"},"modified":"2026-05-30T16:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T20:49:37","slug":"the-breadwinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2026\/05\/30\/the-breadwinner\/","title":{"rendered":"The Breadwinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Breadwinner<\/strong> (2026)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TriStar\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some mild suggestive references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Eric Appel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nate Bargatze and Dan Lagana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Eigil Bryld\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 29, 2026 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Zach Cherry, Martin Herlihy, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, Stella Grace Fitzgerald, Birdie Borria, Charlotte Ann Tucker, Brett Cullen, Kate Berlant.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *<\/p>\n

In the words of animated film critic Jay Sherman, it stinks.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m referring to The Breadwinner<\/strong>, a moldy new family comedy that serves as the film debut of stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze. I can see it being used in a film class someday as an example of how not all material translates to the big screen. During the closing credits, we see snippets of Bargatze\u2019s routine blended with outtakes. He shares anecdotes about his wife and daughter. It\u2019s funnier than anything in the movie proving conclusively that some jokes are better told than acted out.<\/p>\n

The Breadwinner<\/strong> is an update of Mr. Mom minus the laughs. What made the 1983 surprise hit comedy work so well was it dealt with a situation not seen in too many households. The idea of a stay-at-home dad was ideal for comic treatment. Nowadays, it\u2019s not so unusual. Plenty of dads have taken on the role once owned exclusively by moms. Theoretically, the premise could still be mined for laughs, but now it\u2019s as fresh as day-old bread. It still might have worked in more capable hands, but none of those hands are on deck for this turkey.<\/p>\n

Bargatze, continuing his tradition of clean comedy (no dirty stuff, no politics), stars as Nate Wilcox, a car salesman who agrees to pick up the slack for his wife Katie (Moore, This Is Us) after she lands a deal on Shark Tank. He\u2019ll take a leave of absence from the Toyota dealership (one of many, MANY shameless product plugs sprinkled throughout) and tend to domestic matters while she travels to get her product in production and on the market. His duties include taking care of their three daughters, perennially embarrassed teen Gracie (Fitzgerald, Rebel Moon 1 & 2), neurotic middle schooler Hadley (Borria, The Fabelmans) and cute troublemaking baby of the family Sam (Tucker).<\/p>\n

Predictably, Nate finds out immediately he\u2019s in over his head. Before his wife even walks out the door, he botches breakfast and makes a mess. This is followed by the usual things clueless guys do while the wife\u2019s away. He can\u2019t figure things out at the supermarket. He can\u2019t do laundry to save his life. He can\u2019t keep track of the girls\u2019 schedules. He doesn\u2019t even know where their schools are. He tries to improve his wife\u2019s system only for his idea (a reward system of some kind) to fail spectacularly.<\/p>\n

The movie ends with one of those situations that only happen in hackneyed comedies. The house is basically destroyed by a combination of mishaps, Nate\u2019s hubris and a wild horse. That\u2019s when Katie calls to let her family know she\u2019s coming home early to do a live-stream from guess where? The solution Nate comes up with can only go one way. But it\u2019s okay. Nate learns a lesson about family and stepping up for them. Everybody\u2019s happy and huggy. The end.<\/p>\n

I did not laugh once during The Breadwinner<\/strong>. It\u2019s not just unfunny; it\u2019s insufferable. Directed by Eric Appel (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story), it looks and plays like a sitcom. All that\u2019s missing is a laugh track. All things considered, it should have had one. It\u2019s not like anybody in the audience will be laughing. To be fair, maybe I shouldn\u2019t say that. It\u2019s conceivable some might find The Breadwinner<\/strong> amusing. With its PG rating (for one mildly suggestive remark that will fly right over the heads of the little ones), it\u2019s being marketed as a family movie. Kids might get a kick out of the silly slapstick; I\u2019m not so sure about the parents.<\/p>\n

I have a passing familiarity with Bargatze\u2019s work. I saw the two SNL episodes he hosted. I know he works clean. I know he\u2019s immensely popular with Christian audiences. He has a quiet, low-key way that unfortunately works against him in The Breadwinner<\/strong>. He doesn\u2019t project the image of a selfish, self-centered job-focused guy who needs to be humbled. He\u2019s the quiet one in a room full of loud people. He\u2019s all wrong for this role. It\u2019s more suited to a comic with an edge. Bargatze lacks that edge.<\/p>\n

I see no point in commenting on the acting in The Breadwinner<\/strong>. I\u2019m not even sure you can call it acting. The characters are all clich\u00e9s, especially Moore who can and has done better (e.g. A Walk to Remember). Here she plays the sweet, organized wife who holds the family together while hubby plays superstar at work. To her credit, she\u2019s more believable in that role than a budding entrepreneur who slays it on Shark Tank despite her bumbling \u201cbozo\u201d husband. I didn\u2019t buy it, not for a second.<\/p>\n

Appel loads the supporting cast with other comedians including three from SNL- Will Forte as an incompetent roofer, Martin Herlihy (of comedy team Please Don\u2019t Destroy) as a goofball Door Dash driver and Weekend Update\u2019s Colin Jost as a fellow domestic dad. Talented though they might be, they\u2019re unable to generate anything close to amusement. Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) is wasted playing Nate\u2019s main competition at work, an extremely annoying character.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t, in all good conscience, say that I hated The Breadwinner<\/strong>. It\u2019s bad, but not quite that bad. I definitely didn\u2019t enjoy it. It\u2019s impossible to enjoy a comedy that isn\u2019t funny. It doesn\u2019t just strain for laughs; it gets on its knees and begs you to laugh at it. It gives you situations that haven\u2019t been funny since the dawn of television. It\u2019s the cinematic equivalent of stale bread.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Breadwinner (2026)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TriStar\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some mild suggestive references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Eric Appel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nate Bargatze and Dan Lagana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Eigil Bryld\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 29, 2026 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Zach Cherry, Martin Herlihy, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, Stella Grace Fitzgerald, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-now-playing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/The-Breadwinner-POSTER.jpg?fit=620%2C930&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14536,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14532\/revisions\/14536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}