Parents' Guide to

Tankhouse

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Risque moments in familiar but funny theater comedy.

Movie R 2022 94 minutes
Tankhouse Movie Poster

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What's the Story?

In TANKHOUSE, professional and romantic partners Tucker (Stephen Friedrich) and Sandrene (Tara Holt) run a small New York City theater troupe until an audience member's death forces them out of the company and to Sandrene's hometown of Fargo, North Dakota. The town is hosting a theater competition, the winner of which will be allowed to take over the Fargo theater. Believing that their superior city training will make them shoo-ins, the couple set out to find local actors (or, frankly, just interested parties) to audition for their fledgling company of immersive theater actors. Their main competition is led by Sandrene's former high school drama teacher (Richard Kind) and some of his alumni. While Sandrene (formerly Sandy) is used to Fargo, Tucker considers everyone beneath him and gets jealous of Sandrene's connections -- and her mainstream aspirations.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This familiar "city slickers in the country" comedy works best when it's poking fun at overly serious artists who think there's no place worth living but New York City. Writer-director Noam Tomaschoff's feature-length debut is part send-up and part tribute to the sort of theater performers who think only big-city actors are worthy of leading a theater troupe. Tucker and Sandrene are like evangelical theater directors who believe they're spreading the good news of their sophisticated, immersive acting techniques with the pitiable unbelievers of Fargo. Of course, what Tankhouse proves is that every city and town has drama teachers and willing performers.

Tankhouse is a bit like the movie Camp -- i.e., if you need an explanation of what the "Modern Major General"-Off is about, this probably isn't the movie for you. But audiences who do know that the blistering pace of the iconic Gilbert and Sullivan song makes it ideal for the musical theater version of a rap battle will probably laugh at the right scenes. Some of the jokes don't land: The ongoing gag about Yorick's (Joe Adler) arousal during hands-on team-building or partial nudity during a performance borders on creepy or harassment, rather than humor. The cringe-inducing moments can range from silly to drama student in-jokes to fairly crude bits. But the acting ensemble, which includes Kind, Christopher Lloyd (as Sandrene and Tucker's New York mentor), and a host of younger actors, has enough camaraderie to pull off the script's mission. Bottom line? There's nothing original about the movie's plot line, but the actors manage to elicit enough laughs to make it a serviceable comedy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Tankhouse's messages on snobbishness and elitism. What do Sandrene and Tucker learn from being in Fargo?

  • What do you think about the representation in the movie? Should Brady have outed his relationship with Jack without his consent? Why is that a sensitive subject?

  • What makes "fish out of water" or "city mouse/country mouse" stories compelling? How does Tankhouse compare to similar movies like Waiting for Guffman or the show Schitt's Creek?

  • How does the story show the importance of communication, empathy, and teamwork?

Movie Details

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