It’s not too often that a movie title can take on so many meanings as a narrative unfolds, but director Ilya Naishuller manages to pull off what might be one of the more entertaining play on words of the year. “Nobody” is a pretty excellent film that, while it doesn’t re-invent the wheel, does a lot with the numerous resources on hand to create a thrilling action film that’s darkly comedic, satiric and presents an interesting conversation about the antiquated concept of the nuclear family.
Normal factory worker Hutch Mansell fails to defend himself or his family when two thieves break into his suburban home one night. The aftermath of the incident soon strikes a match to Hutch Mansell fails to defend himself or his family when two thieves break into his suburban home one night. The aftermath of the incident soon strikes a match to his long-simmering rage. In a barrage of fists, gunfire and squealing tires, Hutch must now save his wife and son from a dangerous adversary — and ensure everyone, even himself, that he will never be underestimated again.
“Nobody” is very much a take on the classic re-invention during a mid-life crises narrative that we’ve seen through the aughts, and it takes on a new resonance with Bob Odenkirk at the helm. While Odenkirk has mostly been known throughout his career as a brilliant comic actor, he’s remarkable here in a deadpan role as a man who perceives monotony as normality. Through that monotony he manages to lose so much of himself, and finds it when it comes breaking down his doors one night. Naishuller’s action thriller is a stellar amalgam of “John Wick” and “A History of Violence” with a dash of “Breaking Bad.” It’s a taut exploration on how in modern times the perception of the ideal life no longer means a house with a picket fence and kids.
Once Hutch reclaims his manhood, it escalates in to shocking violence, and a sense that he’s finally remembering what led him to his “ideal life.” Most of all, he begins wondering what ideal life he prefers when he’s caught in a fork in the road. Naishuller goes psychological as well as full blown balls to the wall action bonanza, exploring how Mansell perceives violence, and what can happen when he unleashes a powder keg of repressed fury. For all the sub-genres it staples together, “Nobody” is a great, tightly fit action thriller that has a great time with the grue, the choreography, and the shockingly rousing laughs.
A movie like this might not have worked so well without Odenkirk (he handles the choreography like a champ), as he’s proven he can inject an interesting flavor to everything he appears in. I loved “Nobody.” It’s schlocky, weird, tense; it’s a different kind of project for Odenkirk, and it’s also a wonderful re-invention of the actor himself who might just have entered in to yet another iconic role.
Now on Prime Video and Theaters.