Spoilers don’t know who he is either.
This concept is not exactly new. Regular guy, husband and father lives a normal life but was a badass assassin in his former life. The only difference here is that this time the lead role is casted against type. We’re not getting the typical lead Hollywood action hero name. We’re getting Bob Odenkirk, best known as “Better Call Saul”. He’s got chops but for the first time, the actor actually fits the role of the character who audiences wouldn’t immediately identify as the action star.
Nobody (2021) was directed by Ilya Naishuller and written by Derek Kolstad. Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a family man, married to wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and with two children and working a boring desk job. One night two robbers break into his house. His son Blake (Gage Munroe) tackles one while Hutch gets the chance to knock the other one. Instead he tells his son to let go and lets the robbers escape. As the incident hits the news, Hutch’s family, friends and coworkers seem to think he let them go without a fight. His son seems especially disappointed. As we see Hutch talk to his father David (Christopher Lloyd) and contact his adopted brother Harry (RZA) we start learning that Hutch actually could have done a lot more, how he knew the robbers were complete amateurs and how he’s actually hiding a violent past.
The screenwriter for this film, Derek Kolstad, is known for creating the John Wick franchise, something that’s going to become pretty evident as you watch this film. Hutch is really trying to put his past as a professional hitman in the past, something that will be really hard when his family seems to appreciate him even less now. But when Hutch’s only superfan, his kid daughter Abby (Paisley Cadorath), mentions that she’s lost her favorite kitty bracelet… Well Hutch somehow decides that is time to hunt the two would-be robbers. After he does that, and still riding on adrenaline, he encounters a bunch of would-be young thugs in a bus that decide to pick on a young girl.
This is probably the best scene of the movie, as Hutch is both relentless and vulnerable. You never quite think he’s got the complete upper hand, but he manages to come out on top. Unfortunately one of the young thugs ends up being the young brother of this volatile russian mobster named Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov) and, of course, things escalate for the worst.
You’ve seen this movie before. The movie is made better because of the incredible performance of Bob Odenkirk, who has the duality to play both family man and dangerously calm badass. He’s worth the price of admission (or I should say, online rental) alone. Eventually the action escalates to the usual comic-type level, but by then I was having too much fun to care for down-to-earth-ness.
Highly recommended for the action crowd with some popcorn on the side. Yes, Bob Odenkirk really sells the character’s ambiguity but once the action starts in spades the film does throw everything and the kitchen sink. It’s the all-out confrontation we’re looking for anyway, but at least we do get the first half to get acquainted before the bullets starts flying. Also, we get Christopher Lloyd and RZA. Worth your time for a good time.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 