Nuts!
Netflix | Release Date: June 22, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJun 21, 2016
The movie culminates in a cinematic coup de grâce bold enough to spin your head — one that gives the movie an entirely new dimension. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJun 23, 2016
Brilliantly combining archival material, voiceovers, contemporary interviews and a variety of hand-drawn animation, the movie deconstructs the process of self-mythologizing from the inside out. Read full review
91
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonMay 26, 2016
Nuts! manages to create a fascinating, thrilling portrait of the weirdness of industrial-age America that’s as side-splitting as it is deeply haunting. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJul 21, 2016
Once the movie is over and you realize how the filmmaker has turned the tables, you can't help but be amused — and amazed. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJul 7, 2016
The real skill in Lane’s colorful tale about self-made millionaire, “inventor” and maverick John R. Brinkley is that it revels in how fun it is to believe in the unbelievable, and how sinisterly effective the mixture of fact and fiction can be. That includes, Lane eventually reveals, documentaries themselves. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 23, 2016
This marvelous, mostly animated doc/drama hybrid couldn't have come along at a better time. Read full review
88
TheWrapClaudia PuigJul 8, 2016
Nuts! is a brisk, engrossing, tongue-in-cheek film that unfolds at just the right pace — and it’s a piece of American history that couldn’t feel more relevant to modern times. Read full review
88
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJun 23, 2016
You may or may not connect Brinkley to a certain presidential candidate, but, either way, this is one of the most entertaining documentaries to come along in some time. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianJun 21, 2016
Throughout, director Penny Lane strings together telling incidents and anecdotes with a light touch. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayJun 21, 2016
Ultimately, this isn’t a film about goat balls at all, but the willingness of millions to believe that some slick-talking demagogue knows more about what’s good for them and their families than someone with actual qualifications. Read full review
83
The Film StageJohn FinkFeb 17, 2016
One of Penny Lane’s best pictures, Nuts! is quite a brilliant way to tell a peculiar story. Condensing a lot of material into a brief running time, this format allows certain liberties to be taken, particularly when imagined conversations appear. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanFeb 17, 2016
Mixing droll animation, stock footage and a restrained number of talking head interviews, the director Penny Lane’s biography has all the whimsy of a tall tale, until a late change in tone surprises with genuine emotion. Nuts! is really a kick. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeFeb 17, 2016
A blend of cornpone commentary and tongue-in-cheek exposition, Nuts! is consistently very entertaining. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAug 31, 2016
Director Lane and screenwriter Thom Stylinski take a lighthearted, folksy approach to telling Brinkley’s life story, using fairly unsophisticated animation and twangy vocalizations in the spirit of the man’s carefully created image. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 7, 2016
From the movie’s first minute, viewers will know they’re in the hands of a sure-footed storyteller. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 23, 2016
The most striking part of Nuts! is its extensive use of animation. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 21, 2016
This quick, short Sundance Film Festival award winner leaves out a lot more about Brinkley than in it includes. But save your trip to the library (or Wikipedia) for after the film. The surprises, comic and tragic, are worth waiting for. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeJun 22, 2016
The use of animation is sometimes a little crude, but the homespun aesthetic works well with the quirky nature of the story which unfolds. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyMay 17, 2016
This now-obscure historical chapter can’t help but be silly in the retelling, and Lane surrenders whole to that silliness. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 30, 2016
Nuts!”is an intriguing, if patronizing, curio from the cabinet of American arcana, a geegaw from the collective attic that, when dusted off, looks grotesquely funny in the light of today. We wonder how anyone could buy it. Just imagine what, one day, they’ll say about us. Read full review
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