A working dad swaps places with his wife, a stay-at-home supermom, in The Breadwinner. There’s plenty of silly, slapstick violence in this family comedy, along with a few questionable uses of God’s name. But all in all, this is a very navigable film for families with some nice messages.
Nate Wilcox is a successful car salesman. His wife, Katie, is a stay-at-home supermom who takes care of their three girls. As Nate sees it, they have a perfect “work-life balance”—Nate handles work, while Katie handles life.
Everything runs smoothly. But that all changes when Katie’s new invention lands her a deal on Shark Tank.
Suddenly, Nate’s and Katie’s parenting roles are reversed. Katie must go on an extended business trip to oversee this new, life-changing venture. That leaves Nate to fill the role of homemaker while she’s away.
Easy, he thinks. With Mom away, the “Dad era” has arrived.
But it doesn’t take long for Nate to realize that being a stay-at-home parent is a lot more work than he anticipated.
The Wilcox family is a loving one. And while Nate lacks awareness of all that Katie does to keep their household humming, he does appreciate her and is quick to support her. Nate is not a “bad” father, per se, but he ultimately realizes that he should be more active and engaged in the lives of his wife and children (and commits to doing so). The film’s most resonant point comes when Nate acknowledges that while loving his family has always come easy, that love requires effort to flourish. In doing so, he develops an even greater appreciation for his wife and daughters.
When his middle daughter is stressing about an upcoming spelling bee, Nate tells her not to hinge her self-worth on her performance. And he encourages his eldest daughter to dress conservatively.
One of the bigger issues throughout The Breadwinner is Nate’s habit of lying to his wife and others (which I’ll detail more in the Other Noteworthy Elements section), but by the end of the movie he fesses up and admits his faults—and some parents may see this story as an opportunity to teach their kids about the damage that lying can cause.
None.
Nate’s eldest daughter, a young teen, tries to attract the interest of her crush. We hear that she’s started shaving her legs every day and wears revealing clothing that shows some tummy and bare shoulders.
A handful of suggestive comments are sprinkled throughout the script. For example, there’s a double entendre about a handyman’s “tools.”
A salesman wears form-fitting clothing to try to help sell cars to women. (It’s unclear if this is a successful tactic.) Nate and Katie share a few kisses.
Slapstick violence abounds in The Breadwinner. Nate overuses lighter fluid and is blown back by the subsequent fireball. Characters suffer a few painful tumbles. The interior of a house is destroyed by a loose horse. A roof collapses. A car runs through some trash cans. Several vehicles swerve to avoid a crash. People are knocked over in a grocery store. All this violence is played strictly for laughs, and everyone involved comes out unscathed.
Someone says Abraham Lincoln got kicked in the head by a horse when he was young. A husband jokingly suggests he might poison his wife.
In one scene, Nate allows his daughter to wax his nose hair—it seems like a painful process and we’re told (not shown) that Nate bleeds a lot afterwards.
The film contains a few questionable uses of God’s name. The only other things of note are a couple mild exclamations like “golly” or “dang.”
Couples have beer and wine during dinner. Someone suggests that he and a friend “go out for a drink.”
As mentioned, one of the big issues found in The Breadwinner is Nate’s constant lying. As things at home deteriorate, he regularly lies to Katie to save her the worry and himself the embarrassment. Now, one could argue that without Nate’s dishonesty, the movie couldn’t happen—and he does learn his lesson by the story’s end—but it’s still something families will want to note.
Dishonesty isn’t reserved exclusively for Nate, either. Nate’s eldest daughter lies to him a few times, mostly about her immodest clothing choices or spending time with her crush.
While we do see that the members of Nate’s family love each other, his older daughters do frequently disrespect him when angry.
Nate’s youngest daughter has issues with boundaries, trying to hug or kiss her friends—even holding down one of her classmates to kiss him. This isn’t portrayed as sexual, just a very young girl who doesn’t quite know how to express affection appropriately. Instead of talking to his daughter about this issue, Nate tries to bribe her by getting her a horse.
Nate leaves his middle daughter’s spelling competition to attend a work event, which just serves to upset both his boss and his daughter.
Nate’s time as the homemaker leaves a lot to be desired. He continually takes shortcuts to make things easier on himself to the detriment of his family. For example, he orders pizza for nearly every family meal and neglects to wash clothes.
A young girl projectile-vomits water. Someone says that his dad abandoned him when he was little. Nate’s dad comes to “help” him, which mainly consists of the older man sleeping on the couch all day.
Someone speaks glowingly of her assistant at the expense of her husband.
Is comedian Nate Bargatze’s first foray into feature films a newfound family classic? Well, it doesn’t quite live up to that lofty standard. But families will find a lot to like in The Breadwinner.
The film isn’t breaking any new ground in terms of concept. Matter of fact, it feels similar to such movies as Cheaper by the Dozen, except with 9 fewer kids and Nate Bargatze.
As a viewer, mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for the “dumb dad” trope, which is not dissimilar from how Nate Bargatze presents himself in his stand-up comedy. There’s plenty of silly slapstick in this PG-rated flick, one or two suggestive comments and a few questionable uses of God’s name.
All that in mind, The Breadwinner is a navigable comedy for most families with some nice messages to boot. In particular, this pic shines a spotlight on parenthood, familial love and the immense value of stay-at-home moms. And while the humor is plenty goofy, it stays pretty clean. And that makes The Breadwinner a film that families will be able to enjoy relatively worry free.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
