Nobody (2021 | USA | 92 minutes | Ilya Naishuller)
An over-the-top action film that plays it all with a knowing wink, Nobody isn’t going to reinvent the wheel of action cinema. It instead opts to blow it to smithereens and have a wicked smile on its face while doing it. Starring Bob Odenkirk, who is not the figure that comes to mind when thinking about an invulnerable action star, the film follows the unlikely hero as he must fight his way through increasingly dangerous situations after his past catches up with him.
With all respect to Mr. Odenkirk, his past roles were not exactly screaming out “this guy is an action star in the making.” He was most known for either incisive character pieces like his career best work in Better Call Saul or strange comedic stylings from way back to his roles in Mr. Show and Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job!
Yet that is precisely what makes Nobody so absurdly fun, Odenkirk is going against the grain of his past roles and is having a great time doing it. Just as John Wick, whose writer Derek Kolstad returns here, molded Keanu Reeves into a wrecking ball of carnage, Nobody is a similarly brutally bonkers ride. There are many differences, notably that Odenkirk is given more knowing lines and absurd moments to break the tension. Most humorously is a recurring gag of his monologues falling flat when everyone around him is…out for the count so to speak.
What remains consistent is the expertly paced and choreographed action setpieces. Those remain the film’s highlights with just enough story to get from sequence to sequence.
Said story sees Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell, his real name that also happens to be a frequent nickname of mine, who has settled down after a life as a mysterious enforcer. Hutch works at a job he hates, has a rocky relationship with his wife, is struggling to be a role model for his kids, and also consistently forgets to take out the garbage in time to be picked up. This introduction to his character hammers home how his days have all blurred together in a repetitive pattern of banality that has left him just coasting through life.
That is until a break-in at his home upends his life. Hutch initially seems prepared to fight back, but holds back in order to deescalate the situation. Later, he feels guilt over the decision after his son was hit in the face during the theft and his daughter’s kitty cat bracelet was stolen. His macho neighbor makes fun of him about it and he realizes he has “overcorrected”.
He then decides to get back to kicking ass and taking names, only to discover this comes with consequences when he intervenes to stop a group of guys on a bus from hurting a fellow passenger. It turns out they were involved in a criminal element, which will then threaten Hutch’s family and require him to dust off all of his old skills to protect them.
That family is given paper thin characterization and largely exists as a way to establish stakes. The most compelling relationship in the film is actually the connection Hutch has with his own father, David. Played by a charming Christopher Lloyd, the elder Mansell gets his own moments to shine where he takes part in gratuitously glorious gun fights and more than holds his own.
If there is any hangup, it is that the film pulls out the tired narrative device by showing how most everything will conclude in the opening scene. It is by no means the worst offender of using this device, though it still is a consistently strange choice that films use again and again even as it undercuts narrative tension. Thankfully, it is soon forgotten and mostly exists to be a bookend to the rest of the film. Considering how loud and violent much of the film is, it perhaps makes sense that the conclusion wanted to slow things down a bit for balance. It being loud and violent is absolutely a compliment as it was simply just riveting to see the action sequences get more audacious with each new scene.
That the film is directed by Ilya Naishuller is clear. Naishuller had previously directed 2015’s Hardcore Henry, which was almost entirely about the action set pieces. Nobody has more connective tissue holding it all together, though it really is about getting to each new moment where Odenkirk gets to flex his action muscles. There is hand to hand fighting, many a gun fight, and a car chase that may be my personal favorite of the entire film even as it is the shortest sequence. The scene sees Hutch driving in increasingly absurd fashion and even almost laying down flat while still executing expert maneuvers. It’s a smashing good time.
These action sequences don’t pull any punches either. Hutch will frequently take his own beatings and often only just get out alive. You feel every crunch and crackle of the impacts of various weapons, showing that he is not the man he once was. This may be because he has gotten old or just fallen out of practice from being in retirement. No matter the reason, it instills all the action with a weight that more films could aspire to by making its stars vulnerable and human.
Whether or not this is the last of the adventures of Hutch, remains to be seen. The film definitely telegraphs that it wants to tell more, but no matter what comes of the film’s success and whether it can catch on like John Wick did before it, it is a movie that is good all on its own. A unique take on the action genre, Nobody is lean, mean, and showcases a delightful Odenkirk leading the way through all the carnage.
Nobody is available in select theaters beginning March 26 and on VOD April 16. Photo Credit: Universal Pictures