| Let’s start with the cast, headlined by a dark-haired Anna Camp wearing electric blue eyeshadow playing a sex podcast host who’s turning 40 and married to her husband for 20 years. If you didn’t realize how long ago Pitch Perfect was, that sentence should clear that up. The Hangover alum Justin Bartha plays husband Jack, a quieter unassuming schoolteacher. They are joined by six friends for their birthday party which may or may not be their last night on Earth. | | 2024
Directed by: Deena Kashper
Screenplay by: Danny Kashper, Deena Kashper
Starring: Justin Bartha, Anna Camp, Lucy Punch, Tawny Newsome and Ignacio Serricchio
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I love a good movie with a limited number of characters in one location taking place over just a few hours. And the potential of Nuked to be great is really high. There are eight friends, most of whom have known each other since college, all of whom are played by either famous actors or at least recognizable actors. Settling in for a night of eating, drinking and reminiscing, they are high on weed and get an emergency alert on their phones that a nuclear missile is headed for California and to take shelter immediately.
“Who would want to bomb us?” squeals Anna Camp’s Gill (Jill with a G). Oh right, everyone. Naturally chaos follows that as every stoned friend scrambles to get to the basement. Some secrets get revealed like Jack and Gill trying to have a baby despite Gill lying about still taking birth control pills. Lucy Punch as married and uptight mother Penelope once had sex with rock star Logan (Ignacio Serricchio). And gay couple Ishaan and Damian fighting about their lack of commitment.
The problem is the chaotic comedy gives way to a boring comedy. The characters are well enough constructed for interesting dynamics to play out in front of the threat of the end of the world, but it just doesn’t end up as all that interesting. Most of the conflicts are telegraphed in advance which ends up downplaying any impact or intrigue that they could bring. So we have a decent cast playing decent characters in a movie with lots of potential but not all that many laughs.
The highlight of the cast, by far, is Ignacio Serricchio as Logan a washed up former rock star (if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably seen him in a dozen movies and tv shows but never knew his name, that changes here), and Tawny Newsome as Mo, a the smartest and sanest friend in the group who works for the government analyzing the threat of nuclear weapons from foreign countries. How perfect is that character set-up? She serves her purpose and Newsome adds a lot to this character, but the potential is far greater than what we get.
Nuked does not live up to the potential of its premise and fantastic set-up. There are some funny moments, but it mostly goes from chaos to boring. It never delivers the impact that it could have.
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