Mixed Nuts

Mixed Nuts
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nora Ephron
Produced by	Joseph Hartwick Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas
Written by	Nora Ephron Delia Ephron
Starring	Steve Martin Madeline Kahn Robert Klein Anthony LaPaglia Juliette Lewis Rob Reiner Adam Sandler Rita Wilson
Music by	George Fenton
Cinematography	Sven Nykvist
Edited by	Robert M. Reitano
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date	December 21, 1994 (1994-12-21)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$6,821,850

Mixed Nuts is a 1994 American Christmas comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, based on the 1982 French comedy film, Le Père Noël est une ordure. Co-written by Ephron and her sister Delia, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Juliette Lewis, and Adam Sandler.

Mixed Nuts was released theatrically on December 21, 1994. Commercially unsuccessful and critically panned, it has since been listed as one of the worst films ever made.

The plot begins on Christmas Eve, with ex-con Felix running from his angry, pregnant wife, Gracie, as she chases him down the road. He accidentally runs into and damages a Christmas tree carried by two rollerbladers. When an argument breaks out among them, a stranger, Philip, unsuccessfully attempts to calm them down. They soon disperse.

Philip, head of the suicide-prevention hotline "Lifesavers", receives an eviction notice from his landlord, Stanley, after being unable to pay the organization's rent for several months. In addition to him, the hotline is staffed by the selfish, neurotic, and rather fearful Mrs. Munchnik and the overly emotional and empathetic Catherine. Philip, who does not inform his coworkers of the eviction, attempts to convince his girlfriend, Susan, who is a loan officer in a local bank, to grant him a small loan. She refuses the loan before telling him that she has been secretly dating a psychiatrist for four months and is breaking up with him.

Despite Catherine's expectation that "you'd expect everyone to be thinking of jumping out of windows or slitting their wrists on Christmas Eve", the staff has received few calls. There is one phone call from a woman who is frightened by a notorious Los Angeles serial killer dubbed "the Seaside Strangler," and another from Chris, a transgender woman, who convinces Philip to disclose Lifesavers' office address. Meanwhile, an elevator malfunction leaves Mrs. Munchnik trapped on her way to Christmas Eve dinner. Philip eventually manages to pull her to the top of the elevator when Gracie arrives and attempts to operate it. They are terrified that they will be crushed by the ceiling of the elevator shaft, but eventually they all manage to return to the office.