The Breadwinner: A Dad Era Comedy That Plays Safe

Good Heart, Familiar Script

Nate Wilcox (Nate Bargatze) sells Toyotas, and he is very good at it. He has won Salesman of the Year several times, and the dealership still throws him a party each time. For him, the maths is simple: he earns, and Katie does everything else.

Katie (Mandy Moore) runs the house like a military operation. She knows who needs toiletries, who needs food and who will not touch vegetables. She handles the tantrums, does every school drop-off and keeps three daughters on schedule, all by herself. Nate never sees any of it.

Then comes her own big moment. 

Katie has built the Star Minder, an invention she first made for her daughters. She takes it to Shark Tank and lands a deal. 

A financial backer comes on board, and production begins in South Korea, two weeks away. Nate takes leave and steps into her shoes. 

The three girls are where the film truly lives.

Gracie (Stella Grace Fitzgerald), a Gen Z teenager, is old enough to read the situation. With Mum away, she throws a party instead of studying. Nate walks in and shuts it down, and all three daughters take it badly.

Hadley (Birdie Borria), also Gen Z, has a spelling bee. Nate has a work event the same day. He tries to be at both, and he fails at both. It is the film's most honest scene, and any working parent will recognise it.

Sam (Charlotte Ann Tucker), the Gen Alpha child, is blunt and fearless. Her behaviour at school gets her father's attention. His solution is not a talk but a horse. Yes, a horse.

Then there is Keegan (Will Forte), the contractor Nate hires. He is terrible at his job, and Forte plays him with such cheerful confidence that he walks away with every scene he is in. He deserves a clap.

Nate is no fool, and that is the film's quiet strength. He finds his own way rather than copying Katie's. 

The comedy is gentle and predictable, but it is never cruel.

Just as the house starts to look like a disaster zone, Katie calls. Her backer wants to see the family, and the Wilcox living room is about to go live on camera. 

Will the backer, now back out because Katie’s product is an innovation that cannot be sustained? That’s how the movie ends.

Eric Appel directs, and Bargatze co-wrote the film with Dan Lagana. 

It runs 99 minutes and was made by Sony Pictures for about USD 25 million, with a worldwide theatrical gross of around USD 20 million.

Watch it on Netflix.