Nobody (2021)
“You look like shit, dad.” – Blake.
“You should see the other guys.” – Hutch.
Nobody (2021)
Directed by: Ilya Naishuller
Written by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd
From the writer of John Wick (Derek Kolstad) comes Nobody, a new high-octane action revenge thriller. The film focuses on our hero Hutch (Odenkirk), an American everyman who lives a boring suburban life with his wife and two children. When their family home is robbed Hutch decides to do nothing, to the disgust of his family and colleagues – who consider him a boring ‘nobody’. This triggers something in Hutch, and when he decides to defend a helpless woman on a bus his deadly background is unleashed, inadvertently leading to a war with the local Russian underworld.
It has to be said - the John Wick parallels are unavoidable here. A protagonist with deadly skills from a mysterious past? Check. Russian caricature villains? Check. A host of allies who help the hero throughout the film? Check. A loveable animal to make the deadly hero seem more innocent? Check. Unadulterated violence that leads to an astronomical death count? Check. Kolstad has pulled no punches in drawing from the John Wick playbook here, and it’s honestly a bit distracting, as he’s essentially reminding you that you’re watching the inferior movie. To be fair to Kolstad, the plot is not a carbon copy, with the more mundane ‘normality’ of Hutch’s life reminding me more of The Equalizer franchise at points. Montages of Hutch going about his boring day - missing bin day, catching the bus, clocking in for a 9 til 5 - emphasise that he is more ‘average joe’ than killer assassin, which makes the payoff of him eventually unleashing his skills more satisfying.
Storyline notwithstanding, the action scenes are also dripping with John Wick insanity, with J.W franchise stuntman and choreographer extraordinaire David Leitch onboard as a producer here. The action is fast, violent, and as ‘realistic’ as you’ll get, with Hutch receiving his fair share of punishment along the way. There’s no stupid ‘shaky-cam’ hijinks either, with Odenkirk performing all his own stunts in both hand-to-hand and firearm sequences. He’s no Keanu or Charlize - so is not 100% fluid - but for an actor with no action pedigree I thought he was pretty incredible. This imperfection even adds to the charm of the character, as this can be passed off as ‘rust’, with Hutch slowly emerging from retirement. The best scene in the film is probably the bus scene, with Odenkirk showing his true acting range as a mild-mannered passenger who then unleashes his pent up rage.
Unfortunately, the escalation of the violence (and introduction of ‘generic bad guy’) from this point sees the movie lose its way, with Kolstad and Naishuller trying to work out how many anonymous henchmen they can kill, and in how many ways. Handguns, assault rifles, shotguns, grenades, knives, claymore mines, it’s a 2nd amendment supporter’s wet dream. If you love mindless violence, you’ll definitely enjoy the remaining hour of the film, but I found it got a little bit tiring. The introduction of Hutch’s friend Harry (played by RZA), and his dad David (played by the enigmatic Christopher Lloyd – Doc Brown in the Back to The Future franchise) adds a bit of juice to the movie finale, but this is then drowned out by more gunfire and deaths.
In summary, Nobody is not an intellectual juggernaut. Nuanced, maybe, and the first twenty minutes are a fun build-up, but it’s still a pure action movie at heart. Come for the action (which is admittedly well choreographed and shot) and leave if it’s too much. Honestly, go and watch John Wick or The Equalizer instead, and only come back to this once you’ve worked your way through that filmography.
Rating: 6.25/10
Franchise future?
Getting a bit tiring now, but Kolstad confirmed in March that there have been discussions of a crossover film linking this to the John Wick franchise. I feel like this would be a massive disappointment, but I’m sure it would make a truckload of money, with the “Yeah, Deadpool is the funniest movie ever, ha ha!” crowd turning out in troves to watch this.