NOBODY

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently on Video On Demand from director Ilya Naishuller and Universal Pictures comes the story of a man who seems content with being NOBODY.

Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a man living a routine. Getting up, silent morning coffee with wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), going to work at his father-in-law Eddie’s factory, coming home, seeing his kids Blake (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath). The routine also means that Hutch has lost the connection with everything around him.

Startled out of sleep one evening, Hutch makes his way downstairs to hear two robbers break into his home. What happened after that is waking a sleeping giant! Listening to his in-laws make fun and when Sammy can not find her bracelet, Hutch decides he wants to track down the two that upset his routine of life.

On the bus, a group of men decide they are going to make everyone’s life miserable, but Hutch is already walking a razor’s edge. Putting a few in the hospital, one of them happens to be the brother of the Russian mobster Yulian (Aleksei Serebryakov). All of this is explained to him by The Barber (Colin Salmon) who makes sure Hutch knows that what happened is not going to go away.

Yulian makes it clear he is going after Hutch and anyone else in the family including Dad David Mansell (Christopher Lloyd). Now, Hutch is going to let his true colors come through and protect his family any way he knows how, but then again, they are going to find out he knows exactly how.

Odenkirk as Hutch is the perfect person to play this role. Using his mild-mannered abilities to mold him into a guy with a mild mannered, however imperfect life, Odenkirk gives his character all of that and more. I love that he wants more, keeps his cool and tries to work things out before going to the next level because everything he ends up doing is exactly that – next level.

Serebryakov as Yulian is not interested in working things out with Hutch. He has a reputation of violence to protect, and he is not about to let the man who hurt his brother off the hook with a slap on the wrist. Serebryakov gives us the bad guy Russian who happens to enjoy karaoke and taking fast car rides at night.

Nielsen as Becca is a wife that is trying to understand where her marriage is at. When Hutch finally opens up, she begins to understand that this is their life together – good, bad and bullets. Munroe as Blake is the typical teenager who makes it clear he does not have much respect for his father. Personally, I’m tired of these bratty teen roles so let this be the last for a while. Cadorath as Sammy loves her daddy and makes it known more than anyone else.

Lloyd as Dad Mansell is terrific, and I am happy to see him take on a bad ass role. Just because he is an actor “of a certain age” does not mean he is out of the game. He actually made me laugh quite a few times. Ironside as father-in-law Eddie is a man who likes his son-in-law but is not really ready to sell him the business without a big price point. It has been a while since I have seen Ironside in a film so even though the role is small, its still Ironside.

Other cast include RZA as Harry Mansell, Billy MacLellan as Charlie, Araya Mengesha as Pavel, Aleksandr Pal as Teddy, J.P. Manoux as Darren, and Michael Ironside as Eddie.

Universal Pictures has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.universalpictures.com.

NOBODY is a really fun and jaw-dropping film that probably has the same amount of bullet casing flying around as the 1984 film RED DAWN. Odenkirk gives the character of Hutch smarts, strength, the ability to be vulnerable, quick on the draw and takes as good as he gives! I really enjoy an action film where the “hero” takes his punches.

From the moment of the break-in, the film goes from 0-100 in break-neck speed in the telling. There are car chases, actions sequences, creative weaponry and a great story that brings exhaustion at the end of the 92 minutes. It is very cool to have fun watching a film again that is mean to totally entertain and NOBODY does not let us down.  

In the end – never underestimate a nobody!