Nobody ★★★★
Ilya Naishuller
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd, RZA
Bob Odenkirk's reputation has been limited in recent years and due to his performance as popular character Saul Goodman in the hit shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, people have been struggling to disassociate. But here he's putting that reputation to bed, as he stars in knuckle-busting, blood-bearing action Nobody.
From the writers and producers of the John Wick series, and director Ilya Naishuller, Odenkirk plays an "auditor" unable to find a balance between his home life and evening antics. As an emasculated father figure, Hutch (Odenkirk) aims to change his family dynamic by putting all of his testosterone into killing Russians and punching things.
Yes, this is predominantly a film working in the male gaze, shining little light into female characters and being very much about men being men, but I think this was an intentional narrative choice. The 92-minute comedy/thriller shows just how bad men can be to one another and highlights how those actions can affect the people closest to them.
By casting Odenkirk in the lead role, many will assume that the comedy will outweigh the action here, but that is certainly not the case. Although certain jokes are genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, they are funny in a subtle way. One particular joke sees Hutch remove the "number of days without accident" putting it back down to zero. The comedy comes in moments of chaos.
The juxtaposition of old soul and swing music against these violent displays is also powerful if not a little on-the-nose lyrically, but it does give the film a more grounded, wholesome feel.
With surprise additions of Christopher Lloyd as Hutch's father David and RZA as brother Harry, the supporting cast is having an absolute blast.
Connie Nielsen, appearing as Hutch's wife Becca is a little underused but some intimate moments with Hutch are truly beautiful.
Fully loaded and ready for revenge, if his daughter's "kitty cat bracelet" will make Hutch do all of this, I dread to think what he'll do during her teenage years.
Nobody available in cinemas now