BLU-RAY REVIEW:
Street Date 6/22/21;
Universal;
Action;
Box Office $26.1 million;
$29.99 DVD, $34.99 DVD, $44.99 UHD BD;
Rated ‘R’ for strong violence and bloody images, language throughout and brief drug use.
Stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon.
Bob Odenkirk makes for a likable but unlikely action star in Nobody as an unassuming family man pushed to the limit.
Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) seems like a typical suburban husband and father stuck in the daily routines of his boring job. However, the monotony masks a deep-seeded rage that lingers from a mysterious past that he thought he left behind but always suspected would catch up to him.
After he interrupts burglars robbing his house, he puts his skills to use tracking them down hoping to recover his daughter’s kitty-cat bracelet. This sets off a chain of events in which Hutch’s frustration boils to the surface, drawing him into a confrontation with a deadly Russian gangster as he seeks any excuse to unleash his repressed fury.
As a man with a dangerous past trying to live a normal life but drawn back to a world of violence, Hutch shares a lot of traits with John Wick, which shouldn’t come as much surprise given that the Nobody screenwriter was “John Wick” creator Derek Kolstad.
The two characters even face off with Russian baddies, though that may be more a matter of happenstance since the script originally called for Korean gangsters before director Ilya Naishullar signed on and, since he’s Russian, felt more comfortable depicting his own countrymen as the villains.
The end result is a gritty yet effective actioner highlighted by some brutal close-quarters fight sequences.
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The genesis of the story, according to the bonus materials, came from Odenkirk, who looked back at the traumatic experience of his home being robbed in real life and wondering how someone with explicit combat training would have handled it. The project itself came about because Odenkirk hoped to leverage his popularity from “Better Call Saul” into a modestly budgeted action movie that would center on him as the unassuming hero — an intended departure from his comedic background.
This breaking from expectations also led to the casting of Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s shotgun toting father, a retired former FBI agent who eventually gets drawn into his son’s street war, as does RZA as Hutch’s adopted brother.
These facets of the production’s history are discussed at length by Odenkirk in a commentary track shared with Naishullar, and in several of the behind-the-scenes featurettes. Naishullar also goes solo on a second commentary that goes more into his own personal reasons for making the movie.
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Among the featurettes are the four-minute “Hutch Hits Hard,” about Odenkirk’s training for the role; four “Breaking Down the Action” featurettes totaling about 19 minutes, focused on the bus fight, a home invasion sequence, a car chase and the final battle; and the 13-minute “Just a Nobody,” which covers the origins and making of the story, most of which is also discussed in the commentaries.
The Blu-ray also includes five minutes of deleted scenes.
The 4K disc includes the same extras as the regular Blu-ray.
Based on the song “Just Like Old Times” by singer-songwriter Todd Snider, the film stars Michael Dorman (“For All Mankind,” “Patriot,” The Invisible Man), Sophia Bush (John Tucker Must Die, “One Tree Hill,” “Love, Victor”), Dermot Mulroney (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Arrested Development,” My Best Friend’s Wedding), Primetime Emmy Award nominee RZA (2020, Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, TV’s “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”), Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts (1985, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Runaway Train), and Melora Walters (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Dead Poets Society).