Story: Sean (Hulk Hogan) was once a star of the squared circle, but these days, his professional wrestling memories seem distant and he has to find some gainful employment outside of his chosen profession. A chance to make some quick cash as a bodyguard arises and given that Sean is a muscled up tough guy, it seems like a good fit, though his pride keeps him from being too excited about the situation. His client is Alex Mason (Austin Pendleton), who has invented a powerful microchip that has attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Sean’s kind of protection could be ideal to keep Alex safe and keep the chip out of the wrong hands, but that’s not his only task. As it turns out, Sean isn’t just guarding Alex, but his two young children and the task involves more than looking tough, as he finds out. Despite his brute strength and fearless attitude, Sean is put in charge of the kids and even has to manage the household, as if he is a nanny, not a bodyguard. He can handle countless enemies in and out of the ring, but can Sean handle this kind of wackiness?

Entertainment Value: Often mentioned as one of the worst movies ever made, Mr. Nanny is indeed a total mess, but as a fan of both Hulk Hogan and terrible comedies, I still think there is fun to be had here. Of course, if you’re only interested in high brow or well written cinema, then you’ll likely be quite repelled by this one, but if you appreciate movies that push the limits of how bad this medium can be, this is quite an experience. I have to think anyone familiar with Hulk Hogan would know what they’re getting into, since his big screen projects were mostly panned by critics and ignored by the general public. So I assume we all know what to expect and Mr. Nanny follows in the footsteps of most of Hogan’s pictures, which means awful jokes, over the top performances, and scripts that would be better suited as kindling. Even by family friendly comedy standards, the humor here is abysmal and sometimes painfully unfunny, which I found to be hilarious. When the writing is this bad and the performances are this awful, but the material is presented with such confidence, I can’t help but be entertained, even if for unintended reasons. The jokes are fast and furious, which doesn’t help the pace feel less than slow and Mr. Nanny drags on way too long, with so much filler and dull content, so it really grinds at times. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who says this is a terrible movie, but I think it is quite humorous because it is so bad and if you like bad comedies or Hogan’s brand of cinema, give it a look.

The Hulkster himself has the lead here and since Mr. Nanny is more or less just a vehicle for Hulk Hogan, the entire movie is basically centered on him and few scenes are here that don’t involve Hulkamania running wild. While Hogan was great in Rocky III, most of his film career consists of groan level comedies aimed at the same families that follow his professional wrestling career. That is certainly the case with Mr. Nanny, which aims for the easiest laughs and still somehow fails, though this kind of slapstick silliness might resonate with younger viewers better than grownups. Hogan is awful as usual and shows no screen presence or talent as a performer, but you can’t fault his enthusiasm, as he seems energetic and goes over the top in his turn here. As he delivers these miserable jokes with such wildly high energy, it makes it not only more tolerable, but actually fun to watch at times, provided you can get a kick out of Hogan’s nonsense. If you don’t have a soft spot for bad acting and even worse writing however, these jokes will be more likely to cause migraines than entertainment, as this is some bottom drawer effort, outside of Hogan’s wild effort. So no, Hogan doesn’t showcase any comedic talents we hadn’t seen before and his turn is quite bad, but he is so confident and outlandish in the role, I got a kick out of this one. The cast also includes Austin Pendleton, David Johansen, Peter Kent, Sherman Hemsley, and a host of Hogan’s fellow professional wrestlers in smaller, cameo type roles.

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