Nobody
Directed by: Ilya Naishuller
Written by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Alexey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, Araya Mengesha, Alexsandr Pal, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Colin Salmon, Billy MacLellan, Michael Ironside
Action/Crime/Drama - 92 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 22 Mar 2021
Written by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Alexey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, Araya Mengesha, Alexsandr Pal, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Colin Salmon, Billy MacLellan, Michael Ironside
Action/Crime/Drama - 92 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 22 Mar 2021
Action film protagonists habitually dream of the quiet life. As soon as whatever shoot-em-up conflict they are currently ensnared in at the moment ends and the bad guy is dead, they promise to hang it up and settle down into the quiet life – maybe a wife, kids, lawn care, and PTA meetings. Hutch Mansell (Bod Odenkirk, Nebraska) did just that. He got out. However, Hutch may have over-corrected. In a montage which may scare the audience with uncomfortable similarities to their own monotony, Hutch wakes up, exercises, goes to work, and comes home. His kids ignore him. His wife bisects the bed with large pillows which declare Hutch better stay on his side. But this is what Hutch wanted. He’s got the house, the family, and the regular Joe job. This is all at the expense of his self-esteem, respect from his family, and decreasing surety of what it all means.
What Hutch needs is a jolt and who better to do that than writer Derek Kolstad, the guy who wrote John Wick. John Wick also got out, but his wife died right afterward. John Wick’s jolt was when a Russian mobster murdered his puppy. Hutch Mansell’s jolt is when two amateur thieves break into his home one night. Hutch’s special skills have dulled over time. Also, to maintain his cover as the world’s most boring and predictable human being, he lets the home invaders escape even though he had the perfect opportunity to take them out. Hutch’s son is disgusted with him. The responding police officer, his neighbor, and his brother-in-law all question his manhood. It’s time for the real Hutch to wake up.
What Hutch needs is a jolt and who better to do that than writer Derek Kolstad, the guy who wrote John Wick. John Wick also got out, but his wife died right afterward. John Wick’s jolt was when a Russian mobster murdered his puppy. Hutch Mansell’s jolt is when two amateur thieves break into his home one night. Hutch’s special skills have dulled over time. Also, to maintain his cover as the world’s most boring and predictable human being, he lets the home invaders escape even though he had the perfect opportunity to take them out. Hutch’s son is disgusted with him. The responding police officer, his neighbor, and his brother-in-law all question his manhood. It’s time for the real Hutch to wake up.
Kolstad, operating in his wheelhouse of close-in, hand-to-hand combat set-ups, teams with director Ilya Naishuller of Hardcore Henry fame. If you don’t remember that action gem, Naishuller made a first-person shooter film which was more video game than cinema. Its hand-held, shaky cam style made audiences across the globe nauseated with its frenetic, “I can’t believe that just happened” blood-soaked sequences. Nobody is not as gimmicky as Hardcore Henry nor as unrelenting as John Wick. It takes time for Hutch to spin up, but when he does, it’s against a hand-full of Russian mobsters (who else) on a confined city bus. This middle-aged, tired looking, khaki-wearing nothing of a man looks at the young punks and says, “I’m gonna fuck you up.” This line is going to be 2021's "Are you talking to me?" or "Do you feel lucky punk?"
Hutch is no superhero. He takes a beating. This may be more a factor of skill atrophy than lack of ability. For after Hutch cleans up on the city bus, tracks down those home invaders, and announces to his family there is a new man of the house, he will need all of his former daring-do and more as the big bad Russian boss sends the never-ending legion of goons after him. But Hutch is not alone. He was not the only Mansell to hang it up so long ago. Dad (Christopher Lloyd, A Million Ways to Die in the West) is in his retirement home with cowboys and Indians films on repeat and Hutch’s brother (RZA, The Dead Don't Die), always available to talk to through a stereo in Hutch’s office, is there to warn Hutch about everything he risks in opting to return to his action hero days.
Naishuller goes a bit campy with the concept. Bob Odenkirk is nobody’s idea of an action hero, and that’s the point. Let’s see what it looks like for a nobody to lash out and take back his life. Kolstad offers situations which most likely were politely declined in the John Wick process – protecting himself via the mutually assured destruction of a claymore mine and turning his machine-shop business into a widget-induced impalement house of horrors. The result is so cheeky, unexpected, and delightful, Nobody is going to be one of the most impressive action films of the year. I will not deduct points for being a John Wick knock-off; hell, the world needs more John Wick knock-offs. In Hutch’s case, it’s a nobody reclaiming his self-respect and raison d’etre. A word of warning to the vinyl heads out there – it’s going to viscerally hurt when you see what happens to an obviously carefully curated vinyl collection.
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