Nobody again

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a movie called Nobody but not the one with Bob Odenkirk. This week I watched:

Nobody (2021)

which is the one with Bob Odenkirk, perhaps best known from his role as Saul from Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad.

Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) is a middle aged accountant who lives in a nice suburban house with a wife and two kids. He takes the bus to his accounting job, he misses the trash pickup every week, his life is frustrating, boring and dull.

One night they have a break in and the thieves steal some cash and his daughters kitty cat bracelet. This is one step too far, and he sets out to get it back. It turns out that Hutch is in fact quite a lot more than an accountant and a suburban husband and father. He is an Auditor, the kind of person the three letter agencies call when they need someone permanently removed. And he's good at it. He soon finds himself accidentally involved in a war with a deranged Russian mobster and his crew. Things will get very bloody indeed.

The movie was inspired by a couple of real break ins that Odenkirk suffered and how people talked about it after the fact. All the “if it happened to me I would have” and the “if it was my family, then” hurt, and he channeled it into Nobody. The movie is essentially a wish fulfillment story of how we all wish we were secretly a total badass one man army.

Visually Nobody is very nicely made. There is really nothing too ground breaking but I liked that I could follow the fights. Many modern action movies screw up the fight scenes, but Nobody does it really well.

The soundtrack features some really good songs, so that was a pleasant surprise. The real star of the show however are the stars. I haven't seen much of Bob Odenkirk before, but this movie really proves how good of an actor he is. Not necessarily because Hutch is a badass. It's easy to look tough, but because you can see his frustrations through the facade he wears for his children and how hard it is to push down his lethal instincts. Both Christopher Lloyd and Michael Ironside have small roles and it is always fun to see old veterans do their thing. Even though seeing how old they are reminds me of how old I am. Oh well, such is life.

Watching Nobody I was reminded of John Wick. The one man army wrecking people left and right is nothing new in film, but I found something in Nobody that many other movies miss: humor. Nobody is not a comedy, it is in fact pretty grisly, but there are some really good comedic moments that lift the movie to a higher place than just another violent romp. It is in fact funnier than a lot of what passes for comedies these days.

So, do I recommend this film? Yes, absolutely. Just be aware that it is incredibly violent and bloody. If you're okay with that, watch Nobody. I'm probably going to have to watch it again. Like I said, it reminds me of John Wick but also RED (2010).

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!