PG | 1h 39m | Comedy, Family | 2026
In the minds of those already enamored with the stand-up work of Nate Bargatze—and there are a lot of ’em—he can do no wrong. His brand of deadpan-delivered clean humor, free of profanity and heavy on dad jokes, is as safe as mother’s milk.
In 2024 alone, Bargatze’s shows were attended by over 1 million people. He’s released six specials for Netflix, Comedy Central, and Amazon Prime and all are wildly popular. He’s carved out a niche for himself and has now skipped the sitcom phase of his career based on his act and has gone directly to feature films.
For Bargatze’s throngs of fans, “The Breadwinner” will be well received. The material doesn’t stray an inch from his established formula and it takes absolutely no chances.
No Risks, Few Rewards
While taking no risks is smart from a marketing perspective, it’s creatively bereft. Those of us unfamiliar with Bargatze going in will be shocked at just how predictable and thunderously dull it turned out to be. This isn’t a movie; it’s three back-to-back episodes of a poorly-conceived TV series.
For the most part, “The Breadwinner” is a straight up rip-off of “Mr. Mom.” Bargatze stars as Nate, a hot-shot car salesman in a Nashville suburb. He proudly boasts that while he’s the breadwinner, his wife Katie (Mandy Moore) is the glue that keeps the family together.
Displaying the discipline of a marine drill sergeant with the chirpy demeanor of a 1950s TV mother, Katie is the model of domestic efficiency. The couple has three daughters (a teen, a tween, and a first grader) who bicker with each other just enough to make them mildly interesting and not too obnoxious.
Shark Tank
At Nate’s urging, Katie goes on “Shark Tank” to seek funding for a star-shaped thingamabob that serves as a morning reminder device for the girls. While getting turned down by the male judges, including the reliably irascible Kevin O’Leary, a.k.a. “Mr. Wonderful,” Katie convinces judge Lori Greiner to back her.
Instead of having Katie’s company based in the good ol’ U.S.A., Bargatze and his co-writer Dan Lagana decide it would be best (and cheaper) to mass produce the item implying the near slave labor wages in Asia.
This would require Nate to take some time off from work and manage the household for two whole weeks while Katie heads Far East. What could possibly go wrong?
Before Katie even leaves, Nate displays a level of common sense and homemaking skills that could be bested by the average dog or cat. He thinks the toaster is broken because it’s unplugged. He believes leaving pieces of shell in scrambled eggs adds more calcium. He can’t correctly pronounce Lactaid.
Another safe but lazy thing the screenwriters do is to transfer Bargatze’s deadpan stand-up demeanor to the barely-fictional Nate character. This permits the many supporting players to deliver what sometimes resembles humor.
Another character in addition to the daughters is Connor Ashford (Colin Jost), who plays another dad more inept than Nate.
Keegan (Will Forte) is a repair guy who makes up possible problems with the roof and then doesn’t, or can’t, fix them. Peyton (Kumail Nanjiani) shows up as Nate’s preening, jealous co-worker who might be in the early stages of ‘roid rage (from extensive steroid use).
Not intending to be funny is Zach Cherry as Dan, Nate’s boss. Dan fires Nate because he takes time off because he values his family over his job.
Product Placement Overkill
Companies lobbied to have their products named in the 1873 Jules Verne novel “Around the World in 80 Days” and this continues in movies today. The product placement in “The Breadwinner” is so blatant and frequent it results in unintended laughter.
Initially employed to help defray the cost of high-profile action flicks, product placement this blatant and prevalent for a movie with such a relatively low ($25 million) budget makes no sense. Nate works—make that worked—at a Toyota dealership and is seen in the stands of Nissan Stadium.
Nate and the girls pay a visit to a Walmart and make a day trip out of it. Nate uses All brand detergent while cleaning metric tons of laundry and there’s also a plug for Sequoia brand brakes. The most in your face example is three cartoon faces of KFC founder Col. Sanders “looking” directly at the camera.
This is a big step down for veteran TV director Eric Appel (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Office”) whose first feature, “Weird: the Al Yankovic Story” showed a deft and edgy touch with relatively safe material.
To underscore my initial point, Bargatze’s huge, fervent and loyal fan base will love “The Breadwinner.” The same might be said for parents looking for something the whole family can watch and not be offended.
However, “not being offended” is not the same as “enjoying.” Few people outside the Bargatze vacuum will appreciate it.
The film is now playing in theaters.
‘The Breadwinner’
Director: Eric Appel
Starring: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Will Forte
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5
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