Movie Breakdown: Nobody

Pre-Screening Stance:

lya Naishuller knows how to direct an action movie (see: Hardcore Henry) and Bob Odenkirk is always entertaining, so I’m all kinds of jazzed for Nobody.

Post-Screening Ramble:

It’s pretty much impossible to look at Nobody and not immediately think of John Wick. After all, both movies essentially have the same plot – a badass retires, he starts what’s considered to be a “normal” life, it doesn’t last. Nobody, however, is pretty different otherwise. Where Mr. Wick happily left behind his days as an assassin and then begrudgingly had to pick it up again, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) has lost his grip on things in the suburbs so he has to excitedly lean on his time as a shady government agent in order to gets his life back in order. There’s also no elaborate world building here, so don’t expect anything like the Continental Hotel in John Wick. In fact, Nobody has a great bit where anytime that Hutch tries to tell his backstory to someone, they pass out or die when he’s mid-sentence. Furthermore, Hutch doesn’t really come off as a super skilled fighter (or marksman) and is more scrappy than anything.

Ultimately, I found that these things not only allow Nobody to stands on its own, but they do well to keep its story focused, too. Hutch is on a mission to get his life back on track, to stop pretending to be someone he isn’t, and that’s all there is to it. Well, that and the entertaining deaths of droves of bad guys. On a related note, Odenkirk chews up his scenes and is a much better physical fit for the movie than I thought he would be.

Nobody is lean, mean and a good bit of fun – you should check it out when it hits theaters this Friday, March 26.

One Last Thought:

Christopher Lloyd, even when his character doesn’t have any dialogue, has a wild, unhinged spark in his eye, and it’s one of the best parts of this movie. Good on him for putting in the work and still having fun at 82 years old!