Written by Sam Niles
The new film Nobody stemmed from an idea star Bob Odenkirk had when his house was broken into and he wondered how he’d have handle it if he were “a badass.”
After Hutch Manell’s (Odenkirk) house is broken into, he’s met with critics who think they’re badasses, that they’d take out the robbers like it was nothing. So, when they learn Hutch had the upper hand and let the intruders go, they scoff. They think he’s a coward, and that they’d react differently if it were their family.
Of course, these criticisms are a fantasy. The reality is that the robber’s gun was empty — a fact the audience doesn’t learn until after seeing Hutch criticized. Most importantly, it’s one Hutch knew the second that gun was in his face, because–unbeknownst to his critics–Hutch used to be an “auditor,” a man sent to kill the untouchable. Hutch could have easily taken the robbers, but he let them go not out of cowardice, but empathy. They were never going to kill him, so why should he kill them?
Despite his decency, a part of Hutch wishes the gun was loaded. He wishes he could have dealt that righteous blow. He wants to be a hero in his kid’s eyes, he wants his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) to think of him as more than the loser who forgets to take out the trash, and he wants to feel alive again. Hutch is not immune to the power fantasy his critics suffer from, he just wants to be justified in dealing it out, and that door was closed when he saw the gun was empty.
However, all is not lost. When a crew of drunks overtake a bus he’s on, harass the driver, and threateningly surround a woman just trying to read in peace, Hutch sees this as God opening the proverbial window. Hutch looks up and smiles in gratitude before he kicks ass and takes names. It’s a moment of brilliant comedy, and the film has many. It’s how Nobody explores the monotony of suburban life and the absurdity of his fantasy. Other moments, like a little car alarm going off when a body has to go in the trunk give the film a relatable life.
Similarly essential is the family drama at the center. Hutch’s wife and children aren’t idiots who just nag in the name of comedy, but flesh and blood beings who have their own dynamic with Hutch, each dynamic given emotional life by the potent script. His son Blake (Gage Monroe), for instance, might be Hutch’s harshest critic over the robbery. Because Blake actually tried making his badass fantasy a reality, having tackled one of the robbers, and Blake got a black eye because his Dad let them go. Rather than begging for his forgiveness, Hutch reconciles with his son by thanking him for having his back. His daughter Abby (Paisley Cadorath) doesn’t seem to have a conflict with her father. She simply wants to snuggle with him after the robbery.
Most interesting, however, is his marriage. As a testament to the monotony, Becca already knows about Hutch’s past life. When Becca sees him after the bloody bus fight, she doesn’t wonder how this possibly could have happened to her husband. She’s only shocked to see him back at it after so long. But as strong as these character elements are, the action in this action-comedy can’t go unacknowledged.
Hutch gets the last punch in the bus fight (which has a ripple effect that leads to the other action scenes), but he doesn’t get the first. He’s confident and capable but a little rough around the edges, and he doesn’t get out of the fight scratch free, or even without a limp. These less pleasurable moments for Hutch add stakes, comedy, and relative grounding. Director Ilya Naishuller captures all of this with a visceral emphasis on wide framing and kinetic editing that manage to let the images breathe and move with propulsion.
These strengths are a testament to how Nobody embraces the absurd fantasy at its core as if it were reality. It manages to flow from comedy, to drama, to absurdly brutal action with finesse. Essentially, Nobody is a movie that fires on all cylinders, and finds a harmony for its drama, action, and comedy. Nobody is a film that manages to deliver on each of them as though it were nothing.
