Nuts! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Nuts! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 16, 2024

Ready for a Trivial Pursuit trifecta? Okay, here goes. You may think you know a lot about the history of "alternative medicine" in the United States, and maybe even about the history of radio in the United States (with a detour through Mexico), and perhaps also about the political world in Kansas in the 1920s and 1930s, but unless you already know about one John Romulus Brinkley, you've probably never really thought about those three "categories" of knowledge somehow being tethered together. This whimsical documentary by Penny Lane offers an overview of the life and work of J.R., as he was widely known, and indeed kind of like another famous "J.R." (i.e., Ewing), Brinkley was something of a snake oil salesman, and in fact perhaps literally in this instance, since he evidently made his early living as a kind of sideshow barker hawking miracle cures to circus goers. Brinkley was "self made" in more ways than one, including, um, enhancing his academic credentials to pass him off as a modern day Hippocrates, albeit one who specialized in transplanting goat glands (i.e., gonads) into human men in order to cure impotence or infertility. Brinkley's efforts became so well known they were actually parodied (briefly) in a scene from Buster Keaton's 1922 short Cops .

As if that weren't enough to permanently inscribe Brinkley's name in the Book of American Oddities, due to a somewhat felicitous series of events, Brinkley also helped kickstart national radio and the popularizing of country music, first at KFKB, which was ultimately shut down by regulators (a recurrent feature of Brinkley's broadcast life), but later at the first "border blaster" station operating directly across the Texan border in Mexico. Brinkley was hounded throughout his career by Morris Fishbein, the editor of what was then a rather small periodical published by the nascent American Medical Association. Fishbein's efforts probably only increased Brinkley's appeal to "the masses", as evidenced by the fact that Brinkley actually won the governor's race in Kansas in 1930 as a write in candidate, which led to a hurried (and evidently highly illegal) "recount" that disallowed any votes with Brinkley's name misspelled, leading to his supposed loss.

All of this is so inherently weird and "multi-hyphenate" that the documentary's absolutely gonzo animation style may not add all that much to the proceedings. There's some fascinating archival video with Brinkley, his (second) wife and son, all of which may end up begging more questions than are answered (why did "Johnny Boy", the son, commit suicide?). In doing some background research for this review, I found some online data suggesting that none other than Richard Linklater was at one point considering a feature film about Brinkley, and after having seen this unforgettable piece, I can't help but think that that could be a very interesting production. There's a sort of Classical Greek Tragedy element to Brinkley's story, and his incredible ascent to unbelievable fame and fortune, followed by an absolutely disastrous collapse, is in its own way "classic", albeit perhaps as the flip side to the American Dream.

Nuts! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nuts! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cartuna with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (mostly) in 1.78:1. As can be seen in the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, there are both animated elements to this presentation, as well as the more traditional allotment of archival stills, newspaper articles and even some rather interesting home movies of the Brinkley clan. The contemporary animated material is frankly pretty minimal, but kind of fun, with strong line detail but not a lot of other "in fill". The archival material is a good deal more ragged at times, though even having archival video of such a bizarre character has to be counted as a plus.

Nuts! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nuts features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is arguably unnecessary, since "surround" activity can be limited to musical choices, along with some occasional side and rear engagement in the animated sections. Otherwise, all narrated material is presented absolutely flawlessly, while some of the archival material with Brinkley understandably can show some audio issues due to age related wear and tear. Optional subtitles in a curiously wide array of languages are available.

Nuts! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Trailer (HD; 1:43)


• Address to Patients (HD; 9:03) is an unedited moment with Brinkley that is excerpted in the documentary.


• Making a World's Record (HD; 1:12:47) is an archival documentary narrated by the good (?) doctor and which follows his adventures with his wife and "Johnnie Boy" on a fishing expedition.


• Rejuvenation through Gland Transplanting (HD; 13:34) offers you all the information you'd ever deem necessary about gland transplantation, courtesy of this absolutely gonzo archival short (one which consists largely of text cards).


• Brinkley Family Home Movies (HD; 21:14)

Additionally an appropriately bizarre insert booklet is filled with (I hope) fake "archival" ads, and a note from director Penny Lane. I'll also note that while our database is showing a slipcover, the review copy sent to me did not have one.

Nuts! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nuts is a gloriously gonzo piece of "documentary" filmmaking, though it seems to be offering Brinkley as a misunderstood medical visionary / martyr, until some late reveals suggest maybe "charlatan" was a more appropriate term. This piece probably asks more questions than it ultimately answers, but the interwoven subjects are so inherently compelling that even getting the questions can be "informative". Penny Lane's stylistic choices are whimsical, to say the least, but at least she has a presentational point of view. Technical merits are generally solid (with an allowance for archival material), and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.