NOW IN THEATERS! The Breadwinner is yet another example of a veteran stand-up comic making it big on streaming platforms and now being given a movie to draw in fans. Not a bad thing to strike while the iron’s hot. Loosely based on some of Bargatze’s stand-up routine, it invites comparisons to Michael Keaton’s Mr. Mom.

Nate Wilcox (Nate Bargatze) is his region’s top-selling Toyota salesman and the family breadwinner. His wife, Katie (Mandy Moore), handles everything else — the kids, the house, the schedule — without even breaking a sweat. To their three daughters, Gracie, Hadley, and Sam, Mom is the one who makes the whole operation run. Dad is just… around.

Katie has been quietly developing a household invention she calls the Star Minder, a cute way to get kids to complete tasks throughout the day. The other mothers love the idea so much that Katie decides to start her own business. Word spreads fast, and before long, she lands an audition on Shark Tank and takes her shot. Lori Greiner wants in — but there’s a catch. The deal only closes if Nate can hold down the fort alone for two weeks while Katie goes to Korea to get the product built to spec for a national launch. Nate agrees without fully thinking through what two weeks alone with three kids actually looks like.

“Every scheduled task from Katie — including a sleepover in a few days — goes in one ear and out the other.”

Day one is a reality check. As Katie is preparing for the ride to the airport, Nate can barely get breakfast pulled together. Every scheduled task from Katie — including a sleepover in a few days — goes in one ear and out the other. Here, Nate must put out one fire after another, including Sam invading the space of her classmate, Hadley’s freakout over the upcoming spelling bee, and Gracie’s eye on a new boy. Bargatze is the father with a heart of gold who doesn’t know the first thing about raising daughters. Like a good salesman, he refuses to let anyone know he is severely over his head. Bargatze pulls from every SNL contact on his rolodex: Will Forte as an inept roofer, Colin Jost as a fellow stay-at-home dad that nobody likes, Martin Herlihy as a clingy food delivery guy, and Kumail Nanjiani as Nate’s salesman-of-the-year competitor at the office.

The Breadwinner is a faith-based comedy without the faith. The comedy is safe and slapsticky, which means it’s pretty dull. It’s a family comedy for all ages, but for me, I wish this film would punch down once in a while. The biggest laughs came during the Shark Tank segment. As a fan of the show, the jokes were spot on.

As a film, it’s all fine. I hate that I have to recommend it, but here we are — good performances all around, great production values, particularly in how the home is designed and dressed. I smiled a lot, but I barely laughed out loud. It’s hard to say The Breadwinner is bad, but damn, you can still make a family comedy funny.