Theatrical Reviews: Mortdecai

There is occasionally a movie that everyone agrees is terrible, a movie that critics and patrons alike malign completely.  Most of the time, when this happens, I get it;  I feel like  have a strong grasp on what makes a movie good or bad, and I recognize the badness.

Every once awhile though, I go see a critically destroyed movie and don’t get it.  Sometimes when there’s a movie that every outlet says is bad, I find myself pleasantly entertained by it.  Mortdecai is one of these bad movies that I don’t see as bad.  Based on the reviews I expected it to be an aggravating experience; but I did not find that to be the case. 

What is really wrong with Mortdecai?  Don’t ask me because I don’t know.  People say it’s annoying, but I was not annoyed.  People say that it isn’t funny, but I laughed more then a few times.  People say it’s to long, but it moved along at a brisk pace; if anything it didn’t spend enough time on exposition.  The movie isn’t as intense or adventurous as a full on action flick, nor is it as rip-roaringly hilarious as a comedy; yet I don’t see that as a fault.

Mortdecai isn’t trying to be 22 Jump Street or Edge of Tomorrow; it’s only trying to be Mortdecai.  It reminds me in some ways of last years Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s not perfect, but it’s to quirky and unique to not be entertaining.  A big problem with a lot of movies nowadays is that they look and feel like everything else, but I’ve never seen a movie quite like Mortdecai before.

A lot of what makes the movie works is the performances.  Depp, of course, is just as zany and absurd as you’d probably expect; but it’s really the supporting cast that fix it all up.  Paul Bettany is absolutely fantastic in his role, I honestly didn’t even recognize him.  Ewan McGregor also blows his role out of the park, showing some serious acting powers to this live-action cartoon.  Even Jeff Goldblum, who is only in the movie for a few minutes, reminds us why he used to be famous.  Thanks to these fantastic performances Mortdecai is not the only memorable character in the film;  it portrays for us a highly entertaining and often likable cast of characters to play off of him.

The only really big problem is that it’s plot isn’t quite at 100% percent.  I think that they could have helped the thing along by raising the stakes somehow, or giving the character of Mortdecai more emotional depth.  Mortdecai’s main emotional journey revolves around his wife, and her distaste for his mustache, which is hilarious; I’m just not sure it really resonates with people on a deep level.  A scene of genuine emotion could have done wonders for Depp’s character.

Overall I like movies like this.  I like heist flicks.  I like absurd characters, and I like movies with a weird sense of humor.  The movie is brisk, enjoyable and fun.  It’s not the big-budget big-thrill kind of entertainment that we see during the summer, but honestly those kinds of movies grate on me after a while.  If you go see this movie, and you hate it then I apologize.  All I can give you is my honest opinion, and my honest opinion of Mortdecai is that it’s an absurd and fun, if not particularly great, cinematic construct.  

Thanks for reading! Check back this week for a long overdue Behind the Effects article.  There's always plenty of fun movie stuff on Atchley-O-Saurus Movies!