NOBODY Review with Bob Odenkirk

movie review of Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk


This is a movie review of Nobody, starring Bob OdenkirkNobody is as fun as expected with a bit more depth than I would have expected.

Bob Odenkirk is better known for his role of Saul from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. I have never considered the actor as someone who may be able to pull off an action role, but to be honest, he pulled off this action role rather believably.

Nobody is directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry) and written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick films)

The cast includes Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd (Like you've never seen him!!!), Michael Ironside, RZA and more.

Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska) stars as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad and husband, taking life's mundane indignities and never pushing back. In a sense, a nobody who blends in the fabric of reality.

Then two thieves commit a home-invasion style break-in to his suburban home and Hutch decides to not defend himself or his family, in the hopes of trying to prevent any serious violence. In a world where any "real man" is always looking for an excuse to commit violence (in their head), his pacifist decision impacts his teenage son, Blake (Gage Munroe), who becomes disappointed in his dad. Afterwards, his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), seems to also pull further away from him than they already were. 

Not to mention the thin veneer of contempt evidenced by his male neighbors, co-workers, and even the cops. The funny thing is that despite all the tough man talk from his friends in his life, (In their heads), Hutch was actually one of those tough men.

He was fine with losing a few bucks from the ordeal, but in the aftermath of the incident, a nuance of a detail popped up, that being his daughter's kitty kat bracelet would seem to have been stolen in the cash grab from the kitchen counter bowl of stuff, and this breaks down that wall he had erected within himself to keep from engaging his old, violent work skills.

The kitty kat bracelet propels him on a violence driven path that inadvertently engages a dangerous Russian mobster (played by Russian actor Aleksey Serebryakov) that breaks the one big rule in life...  don't come to a man's home. (Honor among thieves!)

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What was interesting about this film was that it wasn't a character developing opening act, followed up by two acts full of violence. Instead, we got the development scenarios, some action, more character development, more action.  All of it set to some pretty fun music from different eras.

Unlike the John Wick character though, Hutch isn't bullet proof or pain proof. He can take a hit or a stab, but once he gets up (or wakes up), he doesn't cower in pain or fear, but gets right back up and back at it.

Odenkirk is a different kind of action hero... skilled but not perfect. John Wick always confused me, how he could get run over by cars, thrown out of buildings, stabbed, shot, etc., and just get up and shake it off. But if Hutch isn't careful, well, he pays the price.  ("But you should see the other guy!")

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If you like action films with an older hero that can be hurt, you will like Nobody. There's a reason it has a 7.5 / 10 score in IMDb. I'd say it's mostly Odenkirk, but the role he plays also has a curiously great history to it. AND DO NOT stop at the credits. There's a great little mid-credits scene you have to see.




Movie Bruce signing out.

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