Better Call Bob Odenkirk to take on some violent bad guys.
Bob Odenkirk has earned more attention from fans of “Breaking Bad” and its spin-off “Better Call Saul,” and appeared in many movies from “Wayne’s World 2” to “Let’s Go to Prison” to “Nebraska” to “The Post.” His next movie “Nobody” allows him to take on a Liam Neeson or Keanu Reeves approach with sly wit and a mild-mannered personality that reignites his inner potential. The role he takes on is a family man and auditor named Hutch Mansell, who goes about his week going to work, feeling distant from his wife (Connie Nielsen), and missing the garbage truck. After he failed to attack some home intruders who injured his son (Gage Munroe), something inside him sparks. This spark is anger.
For the most part, “Nobody” has something that movie-goers are expecting to see. It has violence, it has comedy, it has guns and knives-lots and lots of guns and knives-and it has great actors who deliver the goods. This is much better than the “Death Wish” remake with Bruce Willis, trust me.
Continuing the movie’s plot, Hutch takes his former CIA father’s (Christopher Lloyd) gun and badge to find the thieves that stole his watch and daughter’s (Paisley Cadorath) bracelet. Then, he takes on a violent gang on a bus. And one of the men he damages turns out to be the younger brother of a ruthless Russian mobster (Aleksei Serebryakov), who vows revenge on him. Hutch keeps admitting that he was an auditor for places like the C.I.A. or the F.B.I. (it’s not exactly clear), and let’s say wherever he was employed required him to get his hands dirty.
“Nobody” was directed by Ilya Naishuller, who made the dizzying first-person shooter movie “Hardcore Henry.” It was also written by Derek Kolstad, the creator of the brilliant “John Wick” movies. And finally, it was produced by David Leitch, who also helped with the first “John Wick” movie, and went on to direct the throughly entertaining “Atomic Blonde” and “Deadpool 2.” The plot isn’t that original and there’s one violent scene I’m not a fan of, but what we do have are some ambitious filmmakers who manage to toy with the violence and allow Odenkirk to take risks at his own expense. In fact, he also produced this movie.
He’s sharp, emotional, funny when he transcends from one personality to the next. And he also has some fresh and brilliant supporting work from Lloyd, in his best comeback in years, and RZA, who plays his adoptive brother, and mostly makes contact with him through a radio. They all eventually appear in a showdown, which may seem like “Home Alone,” but delivers on a more valuable and entertaining notion than “Rambo: Last Blood” did.
And there are other cliches the movie cuts back on, which is quite relaxing to me. The wife doesn’t complain to him about his actions, the police don’t use their irritating force on the hero (even though there is a small interrogation scene), and there’s no mean-spirited antics, whatsoever. As my mom says: “life is good.”
So, if your watch Odenkirk’s AMC shows, or his other work, or if you desperately need to see a new action movie in theaters (now that things are really cooking), then “Nobody” is what (or who) you need right now.
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