Hot Docs 2016 Review: Nuts!
Penny Lane’s film Nuts! pulls the ol’ bait and switch on the viewer, in its story of Doctor John Romulus Brinkley, a regular old family man and enterprising medical practitioner.
Because of a need in his patients, Dr. Brinkley implanted goat testicles (!) in his patients of the time in order to restore them of the their virility and potency.
Particularly notable is the Dr. Brinkley was also an early adopter of the radio, and particularly of country music. The two passions of Dr. Brinkley converge to tell a tale of homespun America and of American spirit and entrepreneurship.
Ah, but then Penny Lane, (her real name), gets in your ears and in your eyes. For this story, which is told mainly through animation, chapters and some folksy narration, takes a dramatic wrong turn. Though it would spoil it to tell, the eagle-eyed viewer can see where the story is heading, and that it’s, quite frankly, a little bit nuts.
And hey, a movie featuring animation of rutting goats not more than a minute in is quite alright in our books.
[star v=35]