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Movie Review: 'Nobody'

'Nobody' thought Bob Odenkirk was an action hero.

By Sean PatrickPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Hutch is a rather diffident fellow, a serious normie, on the surface. Hutch's life rarely changes from day to day. He has a routine like clockwork, a seriously boring marriage, on the brink of collapse from the weight of apathy, and two normie kids. It appears, again, on the surface, to be a painfully normal existence. And yet, something in Hutch’s manner causes you to wonder about him. His workouts are rather intense for a man whose life is spent behind a bean counter desk.

Hutch likes to jog great distances before work. He likes doing pull ups and other strength building exercises in unusual places, like a bus stop. Also, Hutch doesn’t drive which never really comes up as a plot point but stands out for how unusual it is for a man of middle age not to have a car. It creates a perception of Hutch as something less than average, as if something went wrong in his life and, indeed, for many years, something in his life is very different, if not criminal.

Naturally, yes, the veneer of normalcy is hiding something crazy. There would not be a movie here if there weren’t a secret. In this case, the secret is really exciting: Hutch was a killer for hire, working for the American government. After showing mercy to a man he was sent to kill, Hutch began to see life in a very different way. He witnessed this former criminal turn his life around and build a classically suburban dad lifestyle and Hutch sees what is missing from his own life.

That’s where we begin in the new action movie Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk. Director Ilya Naishuller works hard to establish the aching averageness of Hutch’s life. The painfully boring life of a suburban dad and schlub husband are artfully demonstrated in stylish repeated scenes of Hutch slowly getting more frustrated and exhausted with his routine but unable to break the monotony as he assumes this is what the life of someone who doesn’t murder for a living is like.

Something finally awakens in Hutch when a pair of masked people break into his home. Hutch resists using his unique set of skills and instead, he allows the criminals to leave without harm. Hutch is humiliated as his son attempted to fight back and got punched in the face and Hutch avoided an opportunity to intervene. This touches off a long dormant desire for enacting serious violence on those who deserve it.

The parallels between Nobody and John Wick are hard to escape and some have theorized that the two are intentionally related in, perhaps, a shared universe. A lot of that speculation comes from the fact that both Nobody and all three John Wick movies were written by Derek Kolstad. However, director Ilya Naishuller doesn’t shy away from visual allusions to Wick as well, especially in Odenkirk’s choice of financial trade, gold bars, one that he stores in his basement.

Does this mean we could see Odenkirk’s Hutch cross paths with Keanu Reeves if Nobody is a hit? Maybe, at the very least, the door is open for such a crossover and I am all for it. Nobody is not as polished as John Wick, it lacks the wonderful universe building of that series, but what Nobody has is a great deal of potential if Bob Odenkirk wants to keep putting himself through the rigors of staying in fighting shape in his 50s.

Nobody establishes the character of Hutch as one to build a franchise around. He has charisma, he has an incredibly unique look, suburban dad turned action badass, and he has the acting chops of Odenkirk, a proven, award winning talent who can play for laughs and still make you believe he’s the toughest and most prepared guy in any room he’s in. I am excited just thinking about what a showdown between Odenkirk and Keau might look like.

That tantalizing idea however, is just one of many fun and exciting aspects of Nobody which, even without any association with the John Wick franchise, has enough of its own juicy appeal to make for a satisfying action franchise.

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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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