Dumb characters drag Disney+ musical down.
“Better Nate Than Ever” is a made-for-Disney plus so committed to the studio that it decides to alter the novel’s set-up by switching the Broadway musical version of “E.T.” with “Lilo & Stitch.” Why would we need a Broadway musical version of the 20-year-old hit when Elvis Presley’s songs already made it so delightful? That’s what I was asking myself a few weeks after getting a look at it.
The movie has an affection for Broadway and it’s dreamers, but it has to provide us with the obligatory supporting characters, who are supposed to be dopey and awkward. It wants us to believe in the kid and his goal, and at times, it does, but why does it have to be so tedious and routine?
We meet the Pennsylvania dreamer Nate (Rueby Wood), who’s like if Ralphie Parker and Greg Heffley both had autism and had big dreams of making it on Broadway. That’s why he has classic Broadway posters and a picture of Bernadette Peters in his room, why he wants to exit a window and on to a fire escape like in “West Side Story,” and why he wakes up dancing in his robe.
Nate’s dad (Norbert Leo Butz) has no job and his mom (Michelle Federer) is the breadwinner and yet, they can afford to travel to a fancy resort for the weekend, because they have credit cards, she’s been working double shifts, and he just landed a job interview.
His older brother (Joshua Bassett) is the successful athletic, who drinks from the juice bottle, and is the less responsible one. Of course he would be.
While his family has their own things, Nate decides to pursue his dreams by traveling with his assistant and best friend Libby (Aria Brooks) to New York to audition for a musical version of “Lilo & Stitch.” That’s what I was telling you about.
They both run into his aunt Heidi (Lisa Kudrow) has auditioned for one Broadway show after the next, which is why she’s a caterer. She’s also in an estranged relationship with his mom. And yet, despite those downfalls, he looks up to her.
Something more exuberant could have been done with “Better Nate Than Ever,” like getting stage legends in cameos like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in “Tick, Tick….BOOM!” or maybe an animated fantasy sequence with “Lilo & Stitch” characters coming in. Or how about this? Maybe the geniuses and remaining voice talents of that movie could give the kid a little pep talk.
Wood does have an up-and-coming actor ability to introduce us to the title character, and Kudrow does have her moments, so these are the two actors I liked in the film. The rest of the stars seem to be standard and oblivious to the youngster’s journey to the Big Apple.
When you see the kid becoming a social media star when he performs in Time Square with some street performers, you can tell there’s some high spirits. And when you see the kid movie formulas, it gets exhausting. I believe in Nate’s dreams more than I do in the actual movie. And leave “Lilo & Stitch” alone. It was already an excellent Disney film to begin with.
Streaming on Disney+ This Friday
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