Odds are if you were to make a list of actors who could star in an ultra-violent hard R action flick, Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul” fame would not be on the list. At nearly 60 years old, he’s a damn fine actor, but hardly on the pure action hero level of say, Dwayne Johnson or even “John Wick” star Keanu Reeves. He’s never done a film like Nobody, the latest beat-em-up from husband and wife producer team David Leitch and Kelly McCormick, the former the director of the first installment of “John Wick,” as well as “Atomic Blonde.”
And yet, it’s precisely this reason why Nobody works as well as it does. To Odenkirk’s credit, he not only delivers a memorable character, but pulls off one of the most stunning transformations into action movie star in recent memory.
As Hutch Mansell, Odenkirk is immediately a guy viewers can root for. He’s got a loving wife (Connie Nielsen), two kids, a monotonous job at a factory that makes God knows what, and a neighbor who brags about his newly purchased muscle car. All seems like a dead end life, until two thugs break into his house and rob the family and Hutch is berated by his angsty son (Gage Munroe) for not doing more to stop the invaders.
But as it transpires, Hutch is not just a nobody as the film’s title suggests: He’s a redacted cleanup agent for the government, responsible for murdering men who need to be murdered because someone told him to. And so, when he steps onto a bus and sees a group of Russian thugs harassing a young woman, when he boldly announces that he will “f*ck you up,” the thugs laugh.
What follows is an epic beatdown for the ages, as Hutch uses anything onboard the bus to beat his enemies into a bloody pulp in a confined quarters, all while the camerawork gleefully shows off just what Odenkirk is doing and that it’s really him doing it. Like Reeves and Charlize Theron before him, he trained for years for this role and puts every second of that training to good use for this film. This bus brawl is so enjoyable that one could argue the film blows its load too early and should’ve saved such a phenomenal moment for its climax.
Nevertheless, Nobody delivers plenty more brutal action over its short 92 minute runtime and director Ilya Naishuller of “Hardcore Henry” fame is clearly delighted to get to film it. While this film is shot in a traditional fare, unlike Naishuller’s previous work, it is no less thrilling to watch with a cinematic look to it and great stunt work and editing to back it up.
And unlike “John Wick,” Nobody doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s plenty of humor in this film, such as a running gag of Hutch monologuing about his past to a bleeding hitman he’s just mauled, only for said hitman to die before he can finish. And then there’s the triumphant return of Christopher Lloyd of “Back to the Future” fame as Hutch’s father, confined to a nursing home, but no less homicidal than his son, resulting in one of Lloyd’s best parts in years.
Nobody is a remarkably fun brawler with a cast against type protagonist that works to its advantage, and while it may not reach the level of “Atomic Blonde” or “John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum,” it’s still one of the more fun action flicks in recent years and maybe just what viewers need in this pandemic, since great action films are hard to find these days. Odenkirk works his tail off for this movie to the point that you can’t imagine anyone else playing Hutch and the set pieces are delightfully violent and occasionally gruesome, leading to a fast ride that delivers a thrilling adrenaline rush.
Nobody is playing wherever theaters are open.