Written by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Aleksey Serebryakov
Rating: [3.5/5]
Everyone has a string of recklessness in their youth when their actions only feel like they affect themselves and no one else. Something that goes on the backburner when we decide to settle down and have a family, as we seek something much calmer and normal for everyday life. However, those who do not receive full satisfaction from this more mellow lifestyle need to let some of this recklessness out, and in Nobody, the protagonist receives the perfect opportunity while also doing some good.
Feeling like a failure following a robbery in his home, Hutch (Bob Odenkirk), who previously worked as a government-sanctioned assassin needs to blow off some steam. This leads him to a Russian mafia boss named Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), who seeks to wreak some havoc on the community. He takes the opportunity to unleash his pent-up anger, which brings danger to his family as they learn more about his previous life.
The spy or agent who has hung up the boots for a normal life only to be dragged back into it serves as its own genre of action movies where this high-octane world meets suburbia. A clash allowing for some comedy but brings these characters into their specialty in a way where they feel competent once again. We even receive this in animated form in The Incredibles. In this feature, we get this journey for the lovable Bob Odenkirk, who I never thought we would see in a film like this, but I’m glad we did because it’s quite the doozy.
Not only do surprises arrive in this type of film for Odenkirk but the extreme violence depicted. The marketing of the feature made it quite clear the violence on display will seek to make the audience wince and it certainly delivered in that regard. Several bone-crunching moments show the extreme physicality of Odenkirk’s performance in this feature as the fighting occurring here does not contain the gloss of what PG-13 films typically employ. Here each punch and blow get felt by these characters as it utilizes a much more realistic approach, especially with the pain Hutch takes throughout the feature. All to say even with him being quite adept at what he does, he remains quite mortal in the amount of damage he can take.
Hits taken certainly leave their mark but the shootouts this feature utilizes also do have some exhilarating aspects to them, especially as we get towards the end where it turns into an all-out barrage. We learn more about Hutch’s life as well as the individuals who have helped make up his past all coming together under the common goal of survival from this threat. It demonstrates some creativity from our protagonist in the effort to take on a large number of adversaries with limited resources at his disposal making for some fun scenes and the taking out of enemies through some unorthodox but effective means.
As for the narrative, we get a straightforward story of a man coming out of retirement to clean up one more mess before resuming his old life. It does allow for a look at the subdued nature of suburbia and how it manages to soften someone like Hutch while also providing the best cover to hide away from a life he would not like to be recognized for. These calm and boring characteristics typically ascribed to this living ideal then meet the rude awakening of some very dangerous Russian mobsters rolling up to take out Hutch making for the ultimate clash.
Very thrilling and enjoyable as a feature, Nobody gets the job done in creating an intriguing character with an unclear backstory we root for through this unfortunate circumstance. We get plenty of well-shot violence occurring with bits of humor from a gruff veteran needing to return to his old ways just one last time. The villains feel quite generic but serve their purpose of providing a threat in numbers against Hutch. Everything in this feature effectively comes together for something that may not necessarily carry a lasting staying power but to turn on for an evening to drive some entertainment, it will certainly hit the right spot if you’re in the mood for it.
Films with Josh 