The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Better Nate Than Ever
Music · Family · Comedy · 2022
13-year-old Nate Foster has big Broadway dreams but there’s only one problem — he can’t even land a part in the school play. When his parents leave town, Nate and his best friend Libby sneak off to the Big Apple for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove everyone wrong. A chance encounter with Nate’s long-lost Aunt Heidi turns his journey upside-down, and together they must learn that life’s greatest adventures are only as big as your dreams.
Movie details
Better Nate Than Ever
“Every adventure begins with a dream.”
2022 Music · Family · Comedy 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.4 / 10
3.2K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
83 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
66 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
13-year-old Nate Foster has big Broadway dreams but there’s only one problem — he can’t even land a part in the school play. When his parents leave town, Nate and his best friend Libby sneak off to the Big Apple for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove everyone wrong. A chance encounter with Nate’s long-lost Aunt Heidi turns his journey upside-down, and together they must learn that life’s greatest adventures are only as big as your dreams.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Better Nate Than Ever?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Tim Federle
Written by
Tim Federle
Rueby Wood
Nate Foster
Lisa Kudrow
Aunt Heidi
Joshua Bassett
Anthony Foster
Aria Brooks
Libby
Norbert Leo Butz
Rex
Michelle Federer
Sherrie
Finn Egan-Liang
Jimmy Madison
Court is in session
Put Better Nate Than Ever on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.