Film Review: "Nobody"
Far from Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence” (2005), Bob Odenkirk’s “Nobody” leaves his cul-de-sac in style to take revenge against the Russian mafia, but sheds no new ground in this genre.
Rating: R / Running Time: 1h 32m / Genre: Crime-Drama, Thriller, Action, Mystery / Directed by IIya Naishuller / In Theatres: Thursday, March 25 / Universal Pictures
Let’s get this out of the way first…
The fight choreography and stunt team behind the John Wick movies have made a name for themselves where as their work have become a “star” in the films that their work is featured in — akin to Muay Thai Stunt lead by Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai and the fight choreography & stunt duo of Iko Uwais & Yayan Ruhian from “The Raid” (2011) and “The Raid 2” (2014) respectively. So walking into this film, the moviegoer knows exactly what they are getting themselves into. Nobody is for the “leave your brain at the door” crowd, fans of action & martial arts films, the John Wick audience, and cat lovers.
Nobody starts with Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), a “Lester Burnham” archetype character, living out the same nightmare of suburban life everyday, very reminiscent of “Groundhogs Day” (1993). When Hutch house gets burglarized, his manhood is called into question, which causes Hutch to get nostalgic about his past life. Unlike Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) from “American Beauty” (1999) who went through a midlife crisis over a life he will never have, the crisis here for Hutch is the duality of the beta-male lifestyle versus the alpha-male lifestyle.
Behind the bone-crushing exterior, Nobody leaves the audience with the Greek proverb of “know thyself.” Like Neo in “The Matrix” (1999), Hutch digs deep within himself to be the man he is and not the man he is not. However, Nobody is not just a film about being “your own man,” but a case for heightened masculinity. Nowadays films feel the need to deconstruct toxic masculinity like the dark comedy “The Art of Self-Defense” (2019), however Nobody is unapologetic for its violence. Hutch wins the self-respect from his family, drives a sports car, and buys a business from his father-in-law based on his blood, sweat, and tears. The measure of a man here paved in blood and not in money. The film gets a little on the nose when Hutch sets money and his home on fire. The film’s message gets a little muddled when violence is a “need” over a “want” for success.
Screenwriter and producer Derek Kolstad is either a huge animal lover or a fan of fellow screenwriter Blake Snyder, author of “Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need,” or both? Nobody opens up on a nice nod to the “Save the Cat!” book; a citation that film students and film nerds would only pick up on. Fans of the John Wick franchise will know Kolstad work, Kolstad scripts are always skin and bone; very thin. For Kolstad, his characters are built through action. Not just by action through violence, the audience learns Kolstad’s characters through their decisions. Exposition is minimal in Kolstad’s scripts. The opening montage of Hutch’s life echoes the recurring “action” that Hutch has been living an unfulfilled life for a very long time.
Nobody goes to see a film called Nobody for the performances. However, the standout actor here is not Bob Odenkirk, but Aleksei Serebryakov’s Yulian Kuznetsov, the film’s villain; a karaoke psychopath. Serebryakov’s Yulian’s weird little walk and style of dress is reminiscent of Jun Kunimura’s Muto in “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?” (2013). Serebryakov’s performance signals something out of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986). Yulian is a cross between Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth and Dean Stockwell’s Ben respectively. The performances are all serviceable, but the filmmaking is the star here. Naishuller definitely went to the Howard Hawks school of filmmaking. The close-ups in the film are minimal and help move the story along and not insult the audience by punching-in on everything in the frame. Naishuller knows how to photograph thought really well. Symbols, touches, postures, and glances say so much more in the frame than words. The stunt work and fight choreography is done well. It tells a story. All the action sequences in the film are motivated. There isn’t one scene in the film where there is action for the sake for action.
Nobody was a fun time in the theater. Certainly, a flawed film; a weak theme, a thin script, and a shift in tone in the third act that is too silly even for this film. However, the problem with Nobody is not the nostalgic yesteryears of the 80s & 90s action genre, but the consequence of violence that the film takes. Look at the film “A History of Violence,” which is similar in structure, man’s violent nature is the monster akin to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Viggo Mortensen’s Tom Stall pays a cost for killing his alter ego Joseph Cusack. Violence is used not for a life once lived, but a life well lived.