Nobody

Did That Make RZA Starsky?

4/5

Spoilers

And thus we came to week two of Limitless membership with Odeon cinemas. After a solid first week, we looked to see what offerings sat upon this late 1930s alter to popular pictures. It appeared that this was going to be a 'take the plunge' week. I would characterise those weeks as ones where there is nothing on we want to see, nothing on we should see, and nothing on others have seen and could discuss. Aside from a re-watch of last week's flicks, we were left with a choice between Nobody or Dream Horse.

Typically, the decision over which film we watch begins with my father and sister. They explore the options and send a suggestion. That is generally the film we opt for. A long while ago, when cinema going was the norm, we had seen a trailer for Dream Horse. I had viciously mocked it, laughing during the trailer to myself with a dry and sneering chortle, and then torn it to shreds in the pub afterwards. It looked like another British underdog story, like Billy Elliot or Brassed Off, except about the staff at Co-op buying a horse. Something about it really did seem laughably 'bottom-of-the-barrel'. When you've used up all the stories about the miner's strike, and the decline of the industrial north, and the difficulties of minority groups, all we are apparently left with is the staff of the Co-op buying a horse. Maybe its just me, but it seemed ridiculous.

Apparently my merciless taunting of the the 'Co-op horse film' suggested to my father and sister that I did not wish to see said 'Co-op horse film'. I'm not sure they were entirely correct on the front - they full well know that I love to pick such films apart over a pint and perhaps you, my loyal readers, missed out on a much more enjoyably scathing review. But, with the knowledge of my disapproval for the 'Co-op horse film', they opted for the film Nobody of which we knew nothing.

It was described as an action thriller and had Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk as the very unlikely action star. Often it is good to go into a film with zero expectations, besides a few prejudgments based on the poster. From what I gathered it seemed like it would be a middle-of-the-road, mildly underwhelming pic at best. Often it is good to have zero expectations, because a surprisingly good film is often all the sweeter. This was one of those occasions.

Nobody begins with a middle-aged father living a repetitive dull existence. The opening montage, whizzing through his repetitive week, seemed somewhat clichéd. With hindsight, this was a sign of the glories to come. Odenkirk's 'Hutch' is woken one night by a burglary in his home. Despite a successful assault by his son on the burglars, Hutch seems paralysed in fear by one of the gun wielding burglars and passes an opportunity to strike with a golf club. Chided by his son, brother-in-law, colleagues, and a police officer, he is presented as a 'small guy'. The film even discusses the military successes of his relatives overshadowing his own and his wife's career leaving him as a nobody.

At this early stage in the movie, I felt we were watching a very staid thriller, one that would focus on Hutch's inability to act, some miserably deep soul searching, and a sad series of desperate fights. Re-energised to find his daughter's possibly stolen kitty-cat bracelet, he starts to track the burglars down. In a tattoo parlous, rough as old boots, the tone begins to shift. A burly patron spots a military tattoo on Hutch's wrist and, with excellent comic timing, locks himself in a ridiculously over-bolted room. Suddenly the tone begins to pivot. Within minutes we are on a bus where, full of cartoon violence and plenty of blood, Hutch is decking a gang of Russian mobsters, basically for no reason. This film is not about soul searching; its Tom and Jerry for adults.

Thus we disappear down a very tongue-in-cheek massively over-the-top rabbit hole. The brief synopsis of the film on the Odeon website describes Hutch as trying to escape the wrath of a Russian mob boss, or words to a similar effect. This is not the case: Hutch tracks down a mob boss and destroys him seemingly because he has missed killing. He doesn't even really know who the guy is or why he's taking him out. In a previous life he was a CIA assassin, his Pentagon file a redacted series of massacres, and now he is desperate to get back in the blood bath.

The thing that makes this thriller so successful is the wry tone which pervades the atmosphere. The cliché I mentioned earlier is one of a series of clichés that director Ilya Naishuller purposefully leans into, almost lampooning the tropes of the genre. My favourite of these was the use of the soundtrack. Recently, Hollywood blockbusters have really gotten into having moments of high drama or action underpinned by a classic Crooner track. Think of Joker's use of Jimmy Durante's 'Smile'. It is a trope that, as a Crooner enthusiast, I do enjoy, but is becoming somewhat passé with each additional sequence. Naishuller sees this pattern and runs with it. Nearly every major sequence features hard-core bloody action being accompanied by Andy Williams, Louis Armstrong, or even Gerry and the Pacemakers. Each time it happens the ridiculousness of the scenario intensifies.

As the film leads you to its apex, Hutch leads the Russians gleefully to a horror house of murder. Or, perhaps more accurately, a Home Alone 2 house of industrial horrors. Like Home Alone 2, the violence is hilariously done; unlike Home Alone 2, being shot by a nail gun means death. This scene is added to by the presence of Hutch's brother, played by RZA, and his Dad, played by Christopher Lloyd. The combination of the three, especially the octogenarian Lloyd slowly tottering around with a series of shotguns and a manic smile, is nothing short absurd brilliance.

The end of our performance came with a small round of applause from the, irritatingly noisy, other patrons. Maybe this was a bit much for this, or any, movie but we did all walk out with massive smiles, chuckling about the insane series of antics that had unfolded before us. The movie is made by a similar team to John Wick. Having only watched the first in that franchise, I must say I have a preference for this. Whilst Wick very seriously goes after a series of badguys for killing his dog, all whilst brandishing his tortured and real human pain, Hutch chases down one set of badguys for a kitty-cat bracelet, and then murders a whole different lot because he enjoyed it. Odenkirk's excellence portrayal of a man really revelling in the action really sells the whole pictures. And not once did he buy a horse.

Nobody, 2021

Director: Ilya Naishuller

Writer: Derek Kolstad

Composer: David Buckley

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA, & Christopher Lloyd

Currently showing in major cinemas across the UK.