Nobody

This darkly comic action film shares a lot of DNA with the John Wick series, but still feels like it has its own distinct identity. Bob Odenkirk may have been an unexpected choice for an action hero, but he’s totally convincing in all of the film’s brutal fight sequences.

Premise: Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) lives an average suburban life, playing second fiddle to his successful wife (Connie Nielsen), raising their two kids, and working in his father-in-law’s business. But when he apparently fails to act during a home invasion robbery, it reawakens something Hutch buried long ago – a particular talent for violence, honed during his previous life as a government assassin.

Review:

It’s fair to say that Nobody does share some DNA with the John Wick films (especially the first one), but that’s not to say that Nobody feels like a John Wick clone. Yes, they were both written by Derek Kolstad, they both feature a retired super-skilled assassin taking on a bunch of Russian mobsters, and they both have a darkly comic sense of playfulness to their bone-crunching violence, but that’s about where the similarities end.

In John Wick, Keanu Reeves was already known for playing action heroes, and so even at the age of 50 (when the first film came out) it wasn’t that much of a surprise seeing him transform into an indestructible killing machine. But it’s fair to say that Bob Odenkirk is not known for playing action heroes, and at 59 years old, we maybe didn’t expect him to start now. And that is certainly part of Nobody’s charm.

“…Odenkirk is totally convincing in all of the action scenes…”

Nobody could have gone in a number of different directions in relation to the character of Hutch. For example, it could have used Bob Odenkirk’s comic reputation to turn the film into a spoof of the genre, by having Odenkirk play a former killing machine who’s now over the hill and a shadow of his former self – or it could have gone the Taken 3 route of using a million fast cuts and jerky camera shots to disguise the fact that its star is physically incapable of climbing over a fence and running down the street, let alone taking on a bunch of mobsters. But instead, Odenkirk committed to doing the action for real and to physically transforming himself for the role, training with the famous 87North stunt team (responsible for the John Wick and Atomic Blonde films, among others) to prepare for the role. And his efforts paid off – Odenkirk is totally convincing in all of the action scenes, and while he may not be quite the ninja that John Wick is (bearing in mind that Keanu Reeves was already a martial artist in real life), Bob Odenkirk is still able to believably take on a bunch of Russian mobsters as Hutch Mansell.

Plot wise, Nobody also has a very different tone from the first John Wick film. The first John Wick film was, essentially, a traditional “revenge movie”, with John Wick hunting down those responsible for the attack on him that resulted in the death of his dog. Nobody takes a very different approach, as Hutch Mansell is not really seeking revenge on anyone – instead, it’s made clear that he’s essentially addicted to the violence, and this film is one long relapse for him. He’s not seeking justice or retribution – he just wants to feel alive again by doing what he does best, and (unfortunately for others) what he does best is unleash eye-watering violence on anyone in his path. That’s not to say that he’s a complete psychopath (he’s never violent towards anyone who doesn’t “deserve” it), but whenever he walks into a dangerous situation, he’s genuinely hoping that someone tries something to give him an excuse to retaliate.

“…the film has a twinkle in its eye during each of the brutal confrontations…”

That said, this isn’t a gritty psychological drama, as the violence is always executed with a darkly comic tone. Whether it’s Hutch telling his family not to call 911 when a kill squad arrives at their family home, or whether it’s the ironic music selections for each of the action sequences, the film definitely has a twinkle in its eye during each of the brutal confrontations. Unlike the straight-faced action flicks of the 80s, or the fascistic revenge fantasies of films like Death Wish, Nobody shares the slightly tongue in cheek tone of the John Wick films, but arguably with an even stronger vein of black humour.

Bob Odenkirk absolutely carries the film, and is in almost every scene, convincingly playing Hutch as both the downtrodden suburbanite, and the pent-up-rage-fuelled killing machine. If the excellent Better Call Saul provided Odenkirk with an opportunity to show off his dramatic talents, then Nobody has certainly done the same for his action credentials. And while the bad guys are played largely by unknowns (although Aleksei Serebryakov really makes an impression as the Russian mob boss Yulian), there are great cameos from the likes of the legendary Christopher Lloyd and Michael Ironside, as well as Colin Salmon and RZA. In truth, it’s only really Connie Nielsen’s role that feels a little underdeveloped, but if there are more films to come in this series, perhaps that’s something they can rectify.

“…the blend of impressively staged action scenes & a dark sense of humour is a winning combination…”

For me, Nobody’s blend of impressively staged action scenes and its dark sense of humour is a winning combination, making it a cut above the average action flick. With Better Call Saul soon to come to an end, hopefully Bob Odenkirk will have time to revisit Hutch Mansell again soon.