‘Nobody 2’ Asks Us How Much We Would Like to See Bob Odenkirk Clean Up the Bad Guys

August 14, 2025

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A bunch of Nobodys (CREDIT: Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures)

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone, Colin Salmon, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath

Director: Timo Tjahjanto

Running Time: 89 Minutes

Rating: R for Strong Bloody Violence and Strong Bloody Language

Release Date: August 15, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) used to be one of these seemingly normal suburban dads that everybody thought was basically a nobody. But word has spread that this nobody is not to be messed with. Unfortunately, his newfound predilection for cracking skulls has been putting a strain on his family. So he decides that he simply must take a break from paying off his debt and go on a vacation with his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and their kids Brady (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath). They make their way to a water park in the tourist town of Plummerville, since that’s the only place that Hutch’s dad (Christopher Lloyd) ever took him on vacation. Unfortunately, it’s not as idyllic as he remembers it. Instead, the theme park operator (John Ortiz) and the town sheriff are in the pocket of a deranged criminal boss (Sharon Stone) who’s running the evilest bootlegging operation in any vacationland. So yeah, not exactly a formula for Hutch to keep his fists tucked away.

What Made an Impression?: That’s Too Much, Man: The trope of the Unlikely AARP-Eligible Action Hero is old hat by now. Honestly, it was already a bit of a cliché by the time that the first Nobody came out. Is the casting choice of Odenkirk as this particular sixtysomething with a particular set of skills enough to overcome that familiarity? Theoretically, it could be. But what he’s asked to do here is just so bloody and so vindictive and so relentless that it doesn’t really matter how likable he is. At one point, some thug callously smacks Hutch’s daughter on the back of her head, so I understand where he’s coming from when he goes ballistic. But at a certain point, I’m sure that his soul must be dying; alas, this movie isn’t terribly interested in having him reckon with that beyond the surface level.
Could It Be… Satan?: There’s good reason to believe that Sharon Stone’s crime boss character is a resident of the underworld in disguise as a human being. As far as I can tell, she’s motivated entirely by money, which is famously the root of all evil. So the fact that she’s behind everything kind of justifies Hutch’s actions, which makes Nobody 2 less off-putting than it could have been otherwise. But this isn’t exactly the most refreshing form of cinematic evil we’ve ever encountered. Stone’s certainly giving it her all, but in terms of showing off the personality of her baddest self, she’s not asked to do much more than drop a bunch of f-bombs.
More Than Nothing: Overall, I must admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled by Nobody 2. But there was one part (or actually a couple) that had my toes happy-tapping. As the Mansell family is driving down to Plummerville, they sing along to “More Today Than Yesterday,” Spiral Starecase’s classic sunshine pop hit from 1969, which is reprised at the beginning of the end credits. Why do I mention this? Because it had me saying “I must now sing this song at karaoke.” Ergo, this was not an entirely fruitless experience.

Nobody 2 is Recommended If You Like: All of the action mayhem without any of the morality

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Hawaiian Shirts

‘Gladiator II’ Review: Come for the Son of Maximus, Stay for the Animals and the Denzel

November 19, 2024

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The Gladiator and the Scene-Stealer (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)

Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Connie Nielsen, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi

Director: Ridley Scott

Running Time: 148 Minutes

Rating: R for Warriors and Beasts Ripping Each Other Apart

Release Date: November 22, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Maybe one day there will be a time when all men will be free in Rome, but today is not that day. Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) is just trying to live a relatively carefree life with his wife, but then the Roman army shows up. He makes a valiant attempt to defend his city, but instead he’s captured and forced into slavery. Perhaps that was always going to be his inescapable fate all along, considering that he’s the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius, the titular gladiator from the first Gladiator. He ends up in the hands of Macrinus (Denzel Washington) and becomes Rome’s new favorite plaything after displaying his prodigious combat skills. There might also be a reconciliation with his mother (Connie Nielsen) along the way, or perhaps he will just make a series of cynical philosophical declarations in between his stints in the arena.

What Made an Impression?: They Are Not Animals… But What If They Were?: There are a lot of characters to keep track of in Gladiator II. Maybe if you think about Ancient Rome all the time and/or you re-watch the first Gladiator every single day, it might be easy for you to keep up. But for someone like myself whose interest in this setting is much more casual, I can’t pretend that I was able to keep track of all the details. But what did leave an indelible impression were the beasts: specifically the pack of baboons let loose upon the gladiators. They are surely CGI creations, but I felt them as viscerally as any practical effect. And I guess I wasn’t terribly familiar with what exactly baboons look like, or at least not feral ones, because these particular baboons struck me as rather canine in nature. Did the Island of Dr. Moreau wander into Rome for a minute? If so, it was a welcome addition.
Chewing the Colosseum: I just spent the last paragraph making it sound like I didn’t care for any of the human actors, but there are actually a few exceptions. As co-emperor brothers Geta and Caracalla, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger provide the requisite depravity. But the major highlight is unsurprisingly the indefatigable Denzel Washington. It shouldn’t come as any surprise at this point in his career that he’s able to deliver a scene-stealing performance. And I’m not surprised. But what he’s doing here is no less impressive for how expected it is. Every line reading and every simple gesture is oozing finely calibrated personality. He’s the MC guiding us through this barbarism, making it clear how anyone and everyone could ever be seduced by a world that only speaks in violence.

Gladiator II is Recommended If You Like: Laughing at all the violence because that’s the only way to feel

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sandals

‘Origin’ Brings Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste’ to Vibrant Cinematic Life

January 16, 2024

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CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot

Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Blair Underwood, Donna Mills, Leonardo Nam, Connie Nielsen, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Mieke Schymura, Isha Blaaker, Myles Frost, Gaurav J. Pathania, Suraj Yengde, Nick Offerman

Director: Ava DuVernay

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Historical Discrimination

Release Date: December 8, 2023 (Awards-Qualifying Run)/January 19, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Perhaps you read the 2020 nonfiction book Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and found yourself wondering how the author, Isabel Wilkerson, went about crafting such a book. Well, it’s your lucky day, because in the grand tradition of Adaptation, Ava DuVernay has written and directed Origin, a big-screen version that reveals the story behind the story. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Isabel, whom we’re introduced to in the buildup to Caste‘s publication. We also get to know her ailing mother Ruby (Emily Yancy), her protective husband Brett (Jon Bernthal), and her cousin Marion (Niecy Nash-Betts). Interspersed within are some stories that demonstrate Isabel’s theory about how American racism is a classic example of social stratification seen throughout human history.

What Made an Impression?: Hung Up in Jargon: Since it is the story of a writer’s life, I was a little worried that Origin would be a little too talky for its own good. And for the first third or so, my fears were well-founded. As Isabel has polite debates with her editor and fellow cocktail party attendees, I realized why these conversations are not usually considered especially cinematic. These moments might be interesting to literature grad students, but for the rest of the population, they could come off a little dull and impenetrable.
Compelling Turning Point: Fortunately the rest of the movie does not maintain that overly literary veneer. And there’s one crucial scene that spells out a change in priorities. Isabel and Marion are hanging out together at a family cookout while Isabel explains the premise of her new book. Marion is initially bewildered by her rather abstract explanation, but then Isabel gets down to brass tacks with a more concrete example of what she’s getting at. Marion then assures her that this sort of storytelling ability is exactly how she should write her book, and the movie wisely follows that cue as well.
The Points Become Salient: Isabel’s journey of writing Caste takes her to the American Deep South, Nazi Germany, and India, with historical re-enactments illustrating how each of these societies have been shaped by strikingly similar caste systems. These segments are fairly straightforward, but what pushes them over the edge are Isabel’s reactions of inspiration. Ellis-Taylor is a subtle master at quiet euphoria. (That quality also serves as a counterpoint to the deep wells of sadness she must convey.) By the end of the movie, you’ll hopefully be able to feel as hopeful as Isabel appears to be. Not because these intractable problems will be solved anytime soon, but at the very least because someone is able to identify and explain them.

Origin is Recommended If You Like: Anti-racism, Listening to people who have liberal arts degrees

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Castes

Supposed ‘Nobody’ Bob Odenkirk Seeks Revenge, and I’m Never Quite Sure Why

March 23, 2021

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Nobody (CREDIT: Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures)

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, Aleksei Serebryakov, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath

Director: Ilya Naishuller

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: R for All The Expected Blood and Profanity

Release Date: March 26, 2021

When I saw the trailer for Nobody and was teased by its promise of Bob Odenkirk pushed to the edge to protect his family, I couldn’t resist. This is a guy who’s famous for his nonpareil knack for frustrated bursts of a certain profanity, after all. How has he not been getting cast in some of the secret-badass roles that Liam Neeson’s been hogging the past decade? But then when the movie actually gets going, it makes a very odd decision. During an opening home invasion scene, Odenkirk just … lets the burglars get away with it. It’s strongly implied that that’s actually the safest decision for everyone, but this doesn’t appear to be the mild-mannered-man-goes-rogue story we’ve been promised. Nor does it seem like we have the appropriate setup for a tale of vengeance. What’s the deal?!

Despite what the title and the thoroughly suburban setting assures us, Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) is far from a nobody. He doesn’t have to summon his penchant for violence out of nothing; in fact, he has a history of violence just bubbling under the surface. The film is vague about that backstory, but it’s clear that regardless of how he learned, he knows how to bash heads. But what really flipped my head is the explanation of Hutch’s entire motivation for his spree of mayhem. As it turns out, the thieves took his young daughter’s kitty-cat bracelet Sammy (Paisley Cadorath), and that’s apparently enough to convince him to take on an entire crime organization., even though Sammy doesn’t seem especially bothered by the loss! In fact, none of the shenanigans that Hutch gets up seem to be on behalf of his family. It’s more like it’s just done out of his desire to star in his own outrageous action movie.

And that really sums up the entire m.o. of Nobody. If I were a betting man, I would bet that screenwriter Derek Kolstad and director Ilya Naishuller noticed that Bob Odenkirk had never been showcased in this genre and they decided that they needed to rectify that immediately. Then they mixed in a Russian drug lord, plenty of guns, and a car chase set to Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker,” and they decided that they were good to go. What’s missing from all this? Any sense of logic at all! Now, you may ask, do you need to have logic when Odenkirk’s brother is played by RZA and his dad is a shotgun-toting Christopher Lloyd? Honestly, I think it would’ve helped. But, eh, nobody needs logic, and certainly neither does Nobody.

Nobody is Recommended If You Like: Senseless violence delivered with conviction

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Kitty Cat Bracelets

‘Wonder Woman 1984’: Surprising, Confusing, Unexpected

December 28, 2020

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Wonder Woman 1984 (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube Screenshot)

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen

Director: Patty Jenkins

Running Time: 151 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 25, 2020 (Theaters/HBO Max)

Wonder Woman 1984 was … not exactly what I was expecting. It’s a “Monkey’s Paw”/be careful what you wish for-type story. In fact, at one point Diana Prince literally says “Monkey’s Paw.” Multiple times, if I’m remembering correctly. You see, there’s this stone that grants wishes to whomever’s touching it. Which sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? But alas of course, something important is taken from the wish-grantee in turn. Not exactly mold-breaking in terms of the history of storytelling, but quite unusual in the realm of big-budget superhero cinema. At the very least, I gotta give Patty Jenkins and company credit for very much not taking the road most travelled.

I wish I could say I was thrilled by the execution, though! Instead, I was trying to figure out what the whole deal with the execution was throughout most of the movie. And this is a long movie! Spending more than two hours trying to figure out a movie’s whole deal is not my preferred way of watching a movie. I could envision some structural changes to the script/editing that would make character motivations a bit more clear and resonant. I’m pretty sure I got what Diana’s situation was, and K-Wiig as Barbara Minerva and Mr. Pedro Pascal started with intriguing setups, but at the end, I found myself thinking, in multiple ways, “Wait, how’s that again?” Also, this movie took place in the 80s, but there were very few, if any, scenes of people doing coke or voting for Ronald Reagan.

Grade: More Lassos of Truth, Less Confusion

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Justice League’ is Okay, I Guess

November 16, 2017

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CREDIT: Warner Bros.

This review was originally posted on News Cult in November 2017.

Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, J.K. Simmons, Connie Nielsen

Director: Zack Snyder

Running Time: 120 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Localized Explosions, Heat Vision Mishaps, and Grotesque Insectoids

Release Date: November 17, 2017

Would you rather have a true auteurist vision that is decidedly ugly and off-putting, or a plainly adequate film with little distinct personality? If you want something to endlessly discuss and theorize about, go with the former. But if you want something to actually watch, go with the latter.

Justice League is perhaps the least Zack Snyder-y film of Zack Snyder’s career. Absent completely is the washed-out color palette. Fabian Wagner’s cinematography is mostly workmanlike, but he does what he can in a limited sandbox, and the result is actually pleasant to look at. Colors are not only present, they’re vibrant! There is an early scene of Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince walking along some lush greenery, and it makes me wish the whole film had just been Justice League Hanging Out in the Park. The action might still fit within Snyder’s kinetic pinball wheelhouse, but it is not as garishly stylized as usual. And because this is a post-Wonder Woman world, the hard-to-be-a-god, brooding cynicism has given way to genuine hopefulness. Really, the only Snyder signature that unequivocally remains is the best one, i.e., the rediscovered rock song scoring the opening credits (this time, it’s Norwegian singer Sigrid’s take on Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows”).

The main duty of Justice League is finding a way forward after the colossal slog that was Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice by way assembling its titular superteam and resurrecting its most iconic member. The returning headliners, namely Affleck’s Batman and Gadot’s Wonder Woman, unquestionably know how to handle this heft. Ezra Miller’s Flash and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman convey their characters economically enough. Ray Fisher could use some more prime time as Cyborg, but it’s an okay start. Overall, it’s refreshing that everyone is eager to team up because they simply recognize how much the entire world is at stake. Isn’t that how superheroes were always meant to be?

As for Superman’s rise from the grave, it isn’t surprising, nor is it meant to be. The (theoretical) fun of it is seeing how it plays out. And on that point, it is fairly entertaining. When Supes comes to, his mind is a bit scrambled, causing him to indiscriminately attack whomever is in the path of his heat vision. Henry Cavill plays it like his body vomiting up the last remnants of Snyder’s inexplicably distasteful take on the Man of Steel. This concession to a lighter version is in fact indicative of the whole Justice League ethos. Finally, the DC Extended Universe is allowed to crack jokes! And I’m not talking glib, Marvel-style one-liners, but actual character moments, like malapropisms and other exposures of vulnerability. Ma Kent (Diane Lane), for one, informs Lois Lane (Amy Adams) that Clark said Lois was “the thirstiest young woman he ever met” (she means hungriest). It’s okay to laugh!

As for the actual story engine, the DCEU is still testing our patience. If this were a pilot episode of a Justice League TV show, it would be fine enough. A little long, but a decent setup. And if you’re in the business of silver linings, that is the best takeaway to come away with here. Future sequels are inevitable, and I can see a roadmap where they might actually be good. The best villains are being saved for later, but this time around the big bad is incredibly perfunctory. Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds under a lot of CG) is some sort of gargoyle whose motivation does not go anywhere beyond “try to take over the world.” His army of insect-men is just a nuisance in every capacity. It’s fair to save the best for later, but it helps to actually get to the best at some point.

Justice League is Recommended If You Like: Incremental Improvement

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Doomsday Clocks

This Is a Movie Review: Wonder Woman

July 8, 2017

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Has Wonder Woman always been noted for her blunt honesty? Obviously the truth has been a big part of her mythos from the beginning, what with the Lasso of that particular quality. Anyway, I am glad her debut film leans into that. Gal Gadot is strikingly perfect at playing Diana’s frustration that those in the world of man are often not straightforward or honorable. What really sells it are the moments when the truest explanations are beyond the scope of the Lasso. So good on Chris Pine as Steve Trevor for zeroing in on the motivation she needs to become the superhero this world needs right now. Diana’s not giving up on us, so I won’t give up on DC.

I give Wonder Woman 95 Ricochets out of 100 Bullets.