‘Nobody’ Review: Bob Odenkirk Transforms Into a Cold-blooded Action Hero 

“Who the hell are you?”

“I am nobody” 

The movie is indeed about a ‘nobody’ who wouldn’t even hit one of the assailants who intruded his home with a bat. The Universal Studio teams up with John Wick’s director, Derek Kolstad, and Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry) who helmed a John Wick-esque type of movie that will give itchy action movie fans a bloody fun ride. Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a family man, husband to Becca (Connie Nielsen) and father to two kids, Blake (Gage Munroe) and Abby (Paisley Cadorath). He lives a repetitive life filled with mundane household chores; a boring auditing job at the company of his father in law, Eddie (Michael Ironside), and coming back home to a wife who seems to be tired of him. 

The unfortunate appearance of two petty thieves is the catalyst for the series of carnage in the film when they break into Mansell’s house. Hutch’s son, Blake, manages to take down one of the thieves, while his father who had the opportunity to hit the other one with a bat and stop the nightmare, opts to let him go. This seemingly coward act makes him a disappointment to his son, his neighbour and his coworker who even tag him a wuss. However, the petty robbery leads to the loss of his daughter’s cat bracelet which makes something literally snap in the family man. In his search to uncover the identity of the robber which somehow reaches a dead end, he crosses path with a bunch of drunk Russian guys and he rains down the buried fury within him on them. With this, he unknowingly kills the brother of a psychopathic Russian crime lord, Yulian (Aleksey Serebryakov) and this leads to a war. 

Nobody is the type of movie in which every gory scene and act of violence is joyous to watch— at least to me. Every scene in the movie is delightful to watch; from the bus fight, to Hutch’s father’s amazing clapback and the final showdown that leaves a string of dead bodies— which is so much joy from a single movie😄. The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor shows he is good enough to play an action hero character. The interesting and peculiar change of Bob Odenkirk from a calm to a terrific and violent character in Nobody is impressive, laying groundwork for more roles like this.

Ilya Naishuller presses the right chord and nails it to give viewers the needed adrenaline rush and enough bloodbaths as expected for a movie of that genre. However, the plot is unoriginal and it’s the over-familiar type of ‘mess with my family, I fuck you up’ kind of story,which is  just a chip of the old block. This makes the  plot  straightforward with no twist whatsoever. There is also no character development whatsoever which if present, could have made the movie better. There is nothing special in the movie, however, the action scenes were well done and it brings out a John Wick vibe. It was almost like the director was itching to drop the quick paced action sequence. 

Hutch’s father, David (Christopher Lloyd) and his brother, Harry (RZA) didn’t abandon Hutch in his ‘trigger-happy’ mode and engage fully in the massacre that he gleefully started. RZA and old man Lloyd know exactly what to do to bring out the fierceness needed for the project and they did an awesome job. Nobody’s action scenes are  a mix of Denzel Washington’s Equalizer, Liam Neeson’s Taken and Keanu Reeves’ John Wick— just that it takes a bracelet rather than a dog for Hutch to bring hell to his assailants’ doors. The action choreography is a bloody work of art, one that will awe viewers and make them hail every act of butchery in the movie. 

From the point where Hutch lurches on a hell-raiser path, the movie becomes a pretty much average one that balances humour with action and the seriousness is laced with funny lines to amuse viewers. Nobody features a compilation of rock and roll hits and American classics. The choice of music is amusing and each soundtrack complements every scene. The funny yet unique soundtrack captures every scene of outrage and pain Hutch inflicts on the criminals. Nobody starts with a Nina Simone intro (we’ve all seen 2016 Nina right?), and a Russian song that I really like, then transitions to a bunch of other soundtracks to fit the mood of each scene. But the most perfect of all is the familiar Louis Armstrong’s song “What a Wonderful World” (which reminded me of King Kong).

The fun action movie transforms Odenkirk into an unfazed killing machine and it suits him perfectly. Infact, I wouldn’t mind a sequel. Nobody gives viewers a perfect scenario of ‘you don’t go around robbing or pissing off people’, you might just encounter a ‘nobody’ with a burning rage and come to regret it. Ultimately, Bob Odenkirk’s offbeat and soft look makes him the perfect nobody in Nobody.

Rating: 7.5/10

Side Musings

• “God doesn’t close one door without opening another” and then he sees a perfect opportunity and goes on to say “please God, open that door” has to be one of my favourite lines in the movie. Hutch turns to God just so he can incur his wrath on a bunch of miscreants, and he does so perfectly. Although, he gets his fair share of beating too. Y’all need to see the other guys😅.
• The post credit-scenes in Nobody is chucklesome. Do not leave the cinema or end the movie on your device before you watch it.
• Crime lord Yulian’s amazing performance of Tchaikovsky’s song at the night club while his whole life is on fire, should receive a Grammy🤣.
• The “does it (the house) have a basement” scene when the real estate agent is showing Hutch and his wife, Becca, around their new house is a memorable scene. Trust Hollywood never to forget little details needed to bring a grin to viewers’ faces or make them picture a scene they’ve probably forgotten.

Nobody is currently showing in cinemas and will be available on VOD on Friday, April 16.