Uncle Nick

Nothing like watching a drunken Uncle around the holidays. Had some laughs.

"Uncle Nick" is not going to be everyone's favorite Yuletide flick. A whole lot of religiously minded adults are going to be apoplectic at this one. And a bunch of innocent young kids are going to have some intensely bad dreams if they're allowed to watch it. But if you're a genuine fan of intentionally dark comedy, clever dialogue, streaks of gross out humor, a handful of cringeworthy sex scenes, all tempered with a surprisingly sentimental undertone, you're going to absolutely love this movie.

"Uncle Nick" features the boldly visual comic domain of comedian Brian Posehn. The film's wince-producing tone comes out swinging with the burning image of a very portly Nick lounging around in his underwear. It's not a pretty look. And right when you begin to think this is going to be a debacle of vaudeville sight gags, in a more temperate tone, Posehn begins a voiceover targeting "The mistake by the lake," Cleveland, and from there it steadily escalates into the actual true story of the bloody fan riot during a Cleveland Indians baseball game. See? That's it. But not all of it.

Uncle Nick speaks to the stark misery some people feel during the holidays, the unspoken taboo of silently hating other family members, and what happens when you're so drunk at Christmas there is no going back except to keep drinking.

I enjoy this film for what it is: A very entertaining comedic look at ourselves during the most stressful time of the year, Christmas.

Love the two lead cast but it just didn't win me over. Not a great watch as I hoped it would be.

I must admit that I didn't have any particular expectations to "Uncle Nick", so I was more than pleasantly surprised with how fun and entertaining this movie actually turned out to be.

Now, this is not your average run-of-the-mill Christmas comedy. No. "Uncle Nick" goes beyond simple humor and adds some dark and fairly weird layers to the frame. But it all works out quite nicely, because director Chris Kasick truly managed to utilize the full potential available here.

The story is about Nick (played by Brian Posehn) who go to spend Christmas with his younger brother Cody (played by Beau Ballinger), his brother's wife Sophie (played by Paget Brewster) and her daughter Valerie (played by Melia Renee) and son Marcus (played by Jacob Houston). However, Nick likes to drink more alcohol than he should, and there is little brotherly love between the two siblings.

It is the quirky characters that really shine in this movie, because there are so many of them. And having characters like this really brings a movie to life so well on the screen. And it really helps that they had cast some really good talents for the various roles, actors who individually also brought something good and unique to the movie.

This is not an in-your-face kind of comedy. No, the comedy here is dark and often subtle. But it works nicely in favor of the movie, especially because the comedy is tied to the characters and the situations that they find themselves in.

As I said earlier, then I was more than genuinely surprised with "Uncle Nick", and I most definitely was entertained. I am giving "Uncle Nick" a well-deserved six out of ten stars. If you enjoy seasonal comedies, then you should give "Uncle Nick" a chance.

Not hearing of this film at the time of its release, or any of the actors. But seemingly coming across it by chance. Had relatively no expectations and it was a decent enough watch for its kind.

Now this is a categorized as a fairly dark comedy with some dramatic parts and several sport (baseball) analogies- filled with black and white flashbacks scenes with narration.

The pacing is solid although drags at times and has the certain feel of a television sitcom. The plot sounds like a rehash of a typical comedy/drama series. It's simple but entertaining for the characters. The film also doesn't feel low budget as the acting is good and the set designs are well done.

Of course, lead Uncle Nick is the star but the performance by Valerie was captivating enough as the young step niece teasing Nick throughout. The ending is somewhat of a twist and not entirely predictable which adds another layer. Perhaps a hidden gem given the amount of votes.