Add to that his antagonistic relationship with older brother Anthony (out actor Joshua Bassett) and the confusion he inspires in his well-meaning parents Rex (Norbert Leo Butz) and Sherrie (Michelle Federer), and you get the feeling it sucks to be him. Sadly, Nate’s hopes are dashed, beginning with a run-in with a school bully who takes his lucky green rabbit’s foot, and then learns that not only did he not get the lead, but he’s playing a tree in the chorus. When the alarm on his phone goes off, he wakes to the message that the cast list for his school musical is being posted that morning. He has a framed photo of Bernadette Peters next to a faux Tony Award on his dresser. The bedroom walls of Pittsburgh-based 7th grader Nate (Rueby Wood) are covered in posters from vintage Broadway musicals.
It’s worth watching the hokey (even by Disney live-action movie standards) flick, a colorful love letter to theater kids everywhere, if for no other reason than knowing that conservative blood vessels burst with every viewing. “Better Nate Than Ever” (Disney), based on the middle-grade novel by gay writer Tim Federle (who also directed and wrote the screenplay), was made before Disney took a stand for LGBT folks after homophobic Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went on his infamous rampage.
