Directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), and written by Derek Kolstad (also writer of the John Wick trilogy), Nobody is a 2021 action-thriller/vigilante film. Suburban family-man Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) accidentally finds himself entangled with the Russian mob, led by Yulian (Aleksei Serebryakov). When Hutch’s family is put in danger, Hutch is forced to return to a life he had previously left behind.
+ Bob Odenkirk is fantastic as both the mild mannered spreadsheet worker, and then also the action star. Surprising no-one after seeing him as Saul Goodman, Odenkirk’s ability to monologue and/or talk at his opposites fits this film and genre perfectly. You’ll feel such empathy (or perhaps pity?) for Hutch in the beginning, but as soon as that switch is flipped you’ll only see Odenkirk as an action movie hero
+ the action is great, with the three major scenes all playing to different action tropes’ strengths. The first, involving a bus, was perhaps my favourite scene in the whole movie
+ Connie Nielsen (as Hutch’s wife), and various other notable actors Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon and Christopher Lloyd have smaller but still important roles. I don’t know that I’ve seen Christopher Lloyd in a straight-up action film like this before, so that was fun
– the film is very derivative of movie writer Derek Kolstad’s John Wick, with almost all of the same story beats, and several scenes were also full of similarities to parts of The Equalizer. Generally speaking, homages and call backs to a writer’s other works is not a bad thing, but in some ways this just felt like a retelling of John Wick
> there is nothing in this film that means it can’t be part of the John Wick series. I hear shared movie-verses are all the rage these days…
Should you see this film: Despite the similarities to other films, this was a lot of fun. The action scenes were intense, Odenkirk really plays his character well, and the supporting cast fill out the world in a believable way. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
MoshFish Reviews 