Bob violence
BETTER NOT PISS OFF SAUL…
NOBODY 15 OUT 9 JUNE CINEMAS
Director Ilya Naishuller is best known for 2015’s audacious, skullsplitting POV actioner Hardcore Henry, which took the aesthetic of FPS videogames to new heights of flame-throwing, blood splattering excess. Nobody, while more grounded in reality – or something resembling reality, if you squint a little - is just as pulverising.
Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk plays Hutch Mansell, a jaded everyman facing the diminishing returns of a middle-aged, middle-class suburban existence. His wife (Connie Nielsen) doesn’t love him; his kids don’t respect him; his job at a metal-fabrication plant is the height of monotony. This all changes one fateful night when his family suffers a home invasion, which reignites the flames and furies of his previous life as a ruthless assassin for various government agencies.
What is initially a simple act of retribution quickly escalates into a
full-on war with the Russian mob, plunging the viewer into a breathless succession of murder set-pieces that all aim to outdo each other in brutality and invention. Aided by a stellar supporting cast - including Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s ex-FBI father and Wu Tang Clan’s own RZA as Hutch’s half-brother and weapons expert – the 58-year-old Odenkirk does a remarkable job of convincing us that he’s the most dangerous man in town. This is the Death Wish redux that Bruce Willis promised, but couldn’t deliver. Ken McIntyre