UNCLE NICK (review)

Review by Joshua Gravel

Spending Christmas with family can be hard, but when you are a bitter middle-aged alcoholic and are spending Christmas with your younger brother Cody’s seemingly perfect family, it may be unbearable.

Nick arrives at his Cody’s house intent on smoking and drinking his way through the holiday and hooking up with his brother’s twenty-year-old stepdaughter but over the course of the evening he realizes that everything isn’t as perfect as it seems.

As Nick narrates his holiday night via the analogy of the failed 1974 Cleveland Indians “Ten Cent Beer Night” fiasco we see that the arrival Nick and Cody’s sister and her husband appears to balance the mood of the group and just when we think that evening may take a positive turn it comes time to exchange gifts…

Uncle Nick is a darkly comic tale with an undercurrent of emotion and a mean streak that all combine to form a powerful character driven story.

Written and directed by first time feature filmmakers, Mike Demski and Chris Kasick respectively, Uncle Nick almost certainly could have devolved in to a bottom of the barrel gross out comedy but is imbued with a wealth of character development and genuine human flaws that make it both memorable and relatable.

Brian Posehn is fantastic as the titular Nick while Paget Brewster as Cody’s wife Sophie and Missi Pyle as Nick and Cody’s sister Michelle both turn in strong memorable performances.

Over all Uncle Nick is a great antidote to the sickly sweet sappy holiday fare that we are force fed this time of year. If you are in the mood for a quality indie comedy with a jaded sense of humor then be sure to check out visit Uncle Nick this holiday season.