Cinema: Mulaney’s Musical A Thoughtful Throwback

In comedian John Mulaney’s own words, “this is a show for kids, by adults, with children present”. That just about perfectly sums up John Mulaney’s newest Netflix special, a compilation of skits and songs featuring a group of children called “The Sack Lunch Brunch”.  Mulaney has achieved great success with Netflix in the past. From his comedy specials like The Comeback Kid or voicing characters like Andrew in Big Mouth, Mulaney is no Netflix newbie. With that in mind, his newest film, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Brunch, is a fascinating hybrid of his comedy specials and the children’s shows of the 80s and 90s. While intended for children, adults will get the real pleasure and humor of the film. Not necessarily due to any mature content, but because of the nostalgia factor.

Mulaney himself states within the first ten minutes that the whole purpose behind this film was because he wanted to create something reminiscent of the shows of his youth. That and he just isn’t impressed by the children’s shows offered today. Accordingly, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Brunch calls to mind shows like Reading Rainbow, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and Sesame Street. There is no plot, no cohesive sequence of events. It’s a loosely linked together set of skits, songs, and scenes of fifteen children being interviewed. What makes it hilarious to the adults is the upheaval or reversal of what to expect.  It still has the positive and whimsical tone of children shows of yesteryear, but with a special Mulaney touch. There are both sly and overt jabs at Hollywood culture – mainly in the Sony pitch meeting skit – as well as a more realistic representation of children. Granted, these kids talk (a lot) about existential topics such as death or “looking back in retrospect”, but they act exactly like what they are. Kids. Which means long, winded, and often times confusing interactions galore.

Purposefully, the film is blunt about whether this is an “ironic” project or a serious endeavor. The truth seems to be a mix of both. It’s a homage to millennial children’s shows, but with a millennial adult’s type of humor. Children sing about topics ranging everywhere from if flowers exist at night to white women crying. Fans of musicals may not enjoy as even though the children are undoubtedly talented, the songs and the film itself are not musical-like. Instead, they are “Mulaney-like”. Quirky and with a quiet sort of comedy about them. It’s basically his comedy special but cloaked under children singing and making fun of him. With no profanity, it’s appropriate for children and adults alike.

Mulaney is not the only celebrity involved in the project. He has guest stars from Richard Kind to Natasha Lyonne to André De Shields. Mulaney’s wife is even in one of the skits as well as an interview at the very end. It’s an eccentric and eclectic cast of characters, but it works. Jake Gyllenhaal even has a last-minute cameo as “Mr. Music”, a maniac and scatter-brained music fanatic who thinks “instruments are stupid”. The best part of all the cameos, is that the children are always underwhelmed by these big-name additions. The most excited they get is over a costume character whose actor has passed away in the diegetic world.

Not much can be critiqued because it would be like trying to do so to a child’s retelling of a dream they had. There’s simultaneously a lot going on and nothing at the same time. One potential reproach is that for a film in which John Mulaney is both a titular character as well as the creator, he’s not featured all too much. However, this is to be expected. It’s called “John Mulaney AND the Sack Lunch Brunch”, so it stands to reason that the kids would get just as much if not more screen time. Plus, in true 80s-90s children show fashion, Mulaney is not the star, he is the host. He simply facilitates and begins the scenes but is not necessarily the focal point of them. It feels longer than it’s seventy or so minutes because it truly does feel like a children’s show. As such, the audience expects it to end at maybe the thirty-minute mark, but it continues. Whether this is good or bad depends on the viewer and their patience for children singing.

There’s a lot to be said about a film that resembles a childhood memory. It’s not Mulaney’s most humorous venture, but definitely one of his most creative. One of Netflix’s most creative original films as well for that matter. More accurately, this is a show for millennials, by a millennial, with children present.