An suburban revenge story in “Nobody”
A seemingly normal guy gets his revenge on a dangerous mob.
Having your things stolen? Not so fun. Having your house broken into and a gun being pulled on you and all of your belongings stolen? Also not fun.
In Chris Lee’s Vulture article “How Bob Odenkirk Actually Transformed Into a Badass for the Ass-Kicking Nobody,” he talks about the inspiration behind Russian filmmaker Illya Naishuller’s action thriller “Nobody.” In the film, Bob Odenkirk details his own experiences recalling when his home was burglarized and he had a gun pulled on him.
Before we go back in time to find out how he got to where he is now, the film starts off with our main protagonist Hutch Mansell — played by Bob Odenkirk — bloodied and broken down as he’s sitting in the interrogation room in front of a couple of detectives.
Hutch Mansell lives an extremely monotonous life. He has a specific weekly routine, his marriage is suffering from it, and he even poorly saves his family from a break in. One night, he finds himself having to save a girl from a group of belligerent men and critically injures the son of a Russian mob boss. This sparks a week-long feud between Hutch and the mob, where we begin to learn some of Hutch’s deepest secrets.
The most important thing that this film does right are the action scenes. They are as brutal and as visceral as they could possibly get. When thinking about Naishuller’s past films like “Hardcore Henry,” you can see how he has translated these finely choreographed scenes into very exciting action sequences that leave you really wanting more.
However, the film gets extremely over the top towards the end, to the point where you have to suspend your belief a little bit when it comes to where the action is heading.
The plot surrounding Hutch’s backstory is well done, and the way that the story gave just enough to get the point of his character across in order to set up later scenes made it exciting. It provided something to look forward to as you learn more about Hutch’s backstory as the film progresses.
From the way the over the top action sequences are set up to the subtle comedic bits that are sprinkled throughout this film, it’s clear in its intention that the film itself does not take itself too seriously. However, this can sometimes cause problems, like the very cliche action tropes and jokes simply not landing as well as they should.
In a lot of ways, this film shares a lot of its DNA with other action films like “John Wick” or the “Equalizer.” In fact, the writer for this film, Derek Kolstad, wrote all three John Wick films. These films feature “one man army” protagonists who are seemingly unstoppable. It’s a bit cliche and this film definitely doesn’t shy away from contributing to media that exclusively has it out for Russian mobsters.
“Nobody” isn’t Odenkirk’s most phenomenal performance. A few performances in the film actually fell a bit flat, but if you’re looking for an action movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously then “Nobody” definitely deserves a viewing.
Availability: Currently in Theaters
Title: “Nobody”
Star Rating: Three Out of Five Stars
Good:
- Action is exciting and well choreographed
- Plot is fun and interesting
Bad:
- Lots of action film cliches
- Gets a little too ridiculous towards the end
