Movie Review
NOBODY (2021) Review
Make It Like John Wick, but Funny
The newest film starring the ever versatile Bob Odenkirk has him breaking bad-ass in a new action-comedy from Ilya Naishuller.
It’s a story that starts off like any other in suburban America: a white-collar man goes to a menial, low-key job, is estranged from his wife and kids, follows the same routine every morning without deviation, and gets in the occasional exercise. It’s the grind that many of us are used to and even fewer manage to escape. At his age, Hutch Mansell fell into a trap that will take some extraordinary life event to get him out of it. So cue a stereotypically written Russian mob, a shadowy government past, and lens flares and colors so smooth they slide right off your screen and you’ll get funny John Wick.
The action sequences, like John Wick, clearly take their inspiration from Jackie Chan’s visual style: wide shots with little to no in-camera movements so as to capture the full action in all its bone-breaking, bannister-shattering, wall-slamming glory. Naishuller adds some flair to these shots, a Go-Pro attached to a spinning gun being one of the most memorable shots of the movie, that distinguishes it from similar films, and referencing his earlier POV works like Hardcore Henry and the music video Bad Motherfucker. The color palette feels too reliant on John Wick’s neon-blue-red look, but gets the job done.
Performance-wise, everyone brings their A-game. Especially Odenkirk. For some reason, comedians tend to have a depth to them equal to other dramatic actors. Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, Robin Williams in Insomnia, etc., etc. I wasn’t familiar with Bob Odenkirk’s earlier comedic forays, only seeing him guest starring in sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond, and as everyon’es favorite dirty, silver-tongued sly lawyer Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad. When Better Call Saul premiered, a prequel that expanded on his conceited, moral-less lawyer, Odenkirk dove deep into the psychology of a man stuck between two identities, playing against a type that he helped create. Christopher Lloyd has a pleasant cameo as Odenkirk’s father and Aleksey Serebryakov brings some fun to an otherwise generic villain role.
But what separates this film from other “white-male rage” films like Falling Down isn’t that it’s more introspective or critical of its protagonist, but that Odenkirk plays him as he is: without depth. This is not a criticism, but a compliment. You see it in him, and in his father, a man dreading his day-to-day existence just like Hutch, wanting to get out in the world and get some action, literally. Some men aren’t looking for something deep or meaningful out of life. Some men just enjoy this lifestyle because they just do. He embraces his identity in the end and has fun doing it.
VERDICT/CONCLUSION
Overall, it’s a fantastic thrill-ride that will satiate any action fan’s taste for a good old fashioned 90’s-testosterone-tinged film.
