Another film that highlights and skewers some awful, neanderthalic attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people is 1994’s comedy flop Mixed Nuts from director Nora Ephron . This one, centred around events at a suicide crisis hotline business on one crazy Christmas Eve night features a starry cast, including the legendary Steve Martin in the lead role and was adapted from a hit French film, the title of which translates as Santa Claus is a Stinker. I get the feeling the foreign version must have been much funnier than this film turned out to be for this to have attracted this sort of cast, as Ephron’s picture - that sounds like a winner on paper - is only mildly amusing and very uneven. I recall that this fared very poorly at the American box office before going straight to video in the UK, normally a sure sign one should avoid at all costs.
However, the film does have its moments and Martin is reliably great, even if his winning brand of physical comedy feels oddly muted here. It’s surprisingly breezy for a film set at a suicide hotline and is notable for being the first big screen role of Liev Schreiber who gives a hell of a performance as a depressed transvestite named Chris whose visit causes chaos for the staff of the “Lifesavers” hotline.
Martin is Philip, the awkward but well-meaning and overly empathetic boss who runs Lifesavers out of his little California apartment and who, unbeknown to his staff, is very un-festively threatened with eviction on Christmas Eve. There’s clearly not much money in the suicide prevention business but, not wanting to cause worry, Philip - who has also just been dumped - does his best to keep this news from his zany team that includes Rita Wilson’s delightful but overly emotional lonely singleton Catherine.
The plot pulls in Catherine’s heavily pregnant, ditzy bohemian pal Gracie (Juliette Lewis), her ex-con loser boyfriend Felix (Anthony LaPaglia), as well as ‘wacky’ neighbour Louie played by a very young Adam Sandler who sings incoherent Christmas songs on his ukulele. You get the feeling this ‘hilarious’ kooky role was created just for Sandler who was starting to blow up at the time due to his memorable turns on Saturday Night Live.
There’s also the selfish, neurotic employee Blanche (Madeline Kahn) who moves the plot in interesting directions by getting stuck in an elevator, while the whole thing revolves around the threat of the psychotic “Seaside Strangler”, who’s been murdering local women leaving everyone in a bit of a tizzy. Oh, and the landlord winds up dead, causing more craziness and chaos for Philip and his crew. All this before Schreiber’s Chris appears on the scene looking for help. Yes, there’s a lot going on.
You might assume it would be fun watching Martin losing his shit while struggling to deal with all these situations at once but too few of the jokes really land and the Roxanne funnyman appears to be dialling down the manic lunacy that made him a star. Whisper it - he’s not that funny here. Also, none of the humour feels very natural. Case in point, when a character is shot in the face none of the other characters seem too bothered or freaked out by it. I guess the joke here is that the ‘Lifesavers’ are more messed up than the callers? Something has definitely been lost in translation here.
It is very interesting, though, that the film features a wholly sympathetic transvestite character in Chris. Apparently, in the wake of the success of 1992’s The Crying Game, it was considered fashionable for films to feature transgender characters and treat them with love and humanity. Sadly, though, my abiding memory of a number of films from this period was using The Crying Game’s big reveal as a comedy punchline, poking fun at the idea of “chicks with dicks”. Hopefully, we’ve come a long way since then.
Chris is treated very sympathetically - we’re clearly meant to feel for this poor, lost soul who, completely misunderstood by his own family - but is not that well-served by the plot. He’s battling the seasonal blues and, after calling the hotline, bullies Philip into giving him his address so he’s got someone to be with on Christmas Eve. Early scenes show Chris’ family mocking his drag appearance and comparing his stocky look to Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is supposed to be hilarious, I guess? When he shows up at the office the discomfort his appearance causes Philip is definitely played for laughs but seems in poor taste. Chris eventually coerces soft touch Philip into a very awkward tango dance session, which is kind of funny and one of the film’s rare glimpses of Martin’s gift for physical comedy, with Philip desperately trying to avoid getting his genitals anywhere near his dance partner.
It’s a shame that the trans character is used mostly as a punchline for silly jokes, though he does get one touching moment, commenting on how he feels that his deep voice doesn’t ‘fit’ the way he feels inside. It’s quite lovely though Chris doesn’t get much of an arc and the film sort of forgets about him at the end. Still, it’s fun to see the normally gruff, macho Schreiber play such a vulnerable, sensitive role - and he looks fabulous in drag - though overall the whole project feels like a missed opportunity and a waste of talent.
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