By John Mulderig
Clever but morally misguided, Nobody (Universal) is a bloody action flick that’s suitable for no one.
When thieves break into his suburban home, mild-mannered accountant Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) gets the drop on the intruders but fails to follow through on the advantage he’s gained.
As a result, his already distant wife, Becca, (Connie Nielsen) seems more disappointed in him than ever and his teen son Blake (Gage Munroe) disdains him as a coward.
Yet, when the aftermath of the incident finds Hutch caught up in an escalating cycle of crime and violence, it turns out that he can more than hold his own.
That’s because what his opponents – eventually including Russian mob boss Yulian Kuznetsov (Alexey Serebryakov) – initially fail to realise is that Hutch is, in fact, a highly skilled former military operative trying to live an ordinary life.
Dark humour abounds in director Ilya Naishuller’s ironic film, which also features comedy veteran Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s dad David, a nursing home resident whose facade is as deceptive as his son’s. And there’s no denying that the ballet of murderous mayhem over which Naishuller presides is well-choreographed.
But, while it makes a few feints in the direction of praising domestic bliss, the real, testosterone-soaked theme of Derek Kolstad’s script is the sheer joy of killing for its own sake. That’s bad news for the innumerable extras who are dispatched in squads to liquidate Hutch – and for the audience as well.
The film contains skewed values, excessive gory violence, gruesome images, drug use, several profanities and frequent rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is O – morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.