From John Wick to Bryan Mills, the idea of an ex-something or other being dragged back into a life they managed to escape is not exactly new but writer Derek Kolstad (who gave us the John Wick franchise) gives his 2021 story Nobody a fresh spin for Bob Odenkirk’s Hutch Mansell it’s not a kidnapped daughter or the murder of a beloved pet that forces him back into the life but instead a home break-in and a little girl’s misplaced kitty-cat bracelet. Yep, you read that right. Hutch Mansell is a man so trapped and unchallenged in his ‘vanilla’ life, with a wife that shows him no affection and a son who doesn’t respect him, that as soon as he gets the slightest taste of what used to be, he finds himself whatever excuse he can to get back to it.
Despite the slightly more original, and somewhat comedic, take on the revenge concept, the rest of the story follows a rather more formulaic path, including a pissed off Russian crime lord kingpin, the decision to pick a you’ve-crossed-the-line personal attack on the hero and a full throttle, no-holds barred explosive third act. Fortunately, despite the slightly stale premise, director Ilya Naishuller brings us something that ultimately delivers on the goods.
Fans of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul will get a bit of a kick out of seeing Bob Odenkirk in this kind of role but, I have to say, he delivers it well. I don’t think he will ever achieve the same level of technicality and physicality that Keanu Reeves and Liam Neeson achieved in their roles but that may be largely due to the fact that they have both studied martial arts for years. That being said, Odenkirk put a lot of effort into getting into shape for his role as Hutch and he also brings his own personal experiences to his performance, having been a victim of a home invasion himself. In fact, the initial premise of the whole story is based on his own experience. As a result, he brings a great sense of realism to his performance. Couple that with his dry sense of humour and rather stoic demeanour and it’s a pleasure to just sit back and watch Hutch’s midlife crisis unfurl.
Connie Nielson, RZA, Gage Munroe and Colin Salmon all put in solid supporting performances. Aleksey Serebryakov as the film’s antagonist, Yulian Kuznetsov, felt a little underwhelming and didn’t really deliver much of any substance outside of a couple of cringey yet chuckle-worthy karaoke sessions but it was the choice to cast Christopher Lloyd as Hutch Mansell’s elderly father that turned this film up to eleven. I don’t want to give too much away but believe me when I tell you that this film is worth a watch for Lloyd’s performance alone.
In terms of some of the more ‘cinematic’ elements of the film, they were all excellently delivered. Nobody was well paced, allowing time to understand the monotony of Hutch’s workaday life and his family dynamic. We’ve got some creative booby traps that would make Macaulay Culkin proud and some slow motion action scenes with bits, blood and bullets flying all over the place. But the real cherry on the top is the choice of music throughout with the likes of “I’ve Gotta Be Me”, “What A Wonderful World” and “The Impossible Dream” acting as a musical backdrop for the action.
Although it may not quite live up to its genre counterparts, Nobody is a great watch and the perfect choice to shake off some of the cinema cobwebs that may still be lingering from the Covid lockdown.
