Movie Review: Mortdecai

I never particularly liked watching Johnny Depp films, although they are quite fun to watch.  His brand of acting is just not something I appreciate much.  We went to watch Mortdecai by virtue of the process of elimination (the choice sort, not the biological function).  I wasn't particularly thrilled by how this movie was being marketed as well, as it was being compared to Austin Powers (basically the pinnacle of modern day comedic cinema, as far as I'm concerned).  In the end, I was glad we chose to see this film though.

Mortdecai is an art dealer.  Due to circumstances involving art and national security, he was drafted to take part in recovering a priceless painting.  While Johnny Depp is his usual Johnny Depp self (that is, a character actor playing a character actor extraordinaire playing his part in a character actor driven movie), and did his best English Aristo, I enjoyed the supporting cast so much more:

1. Gwynneth Paltrow, Mortdecai's wife, being pretty and smart
2. Ewan McGregor, because I'm a fan
3. Paul Bettany - because he just stole the show, and because I'm a fan

I'm not quite sure why this movie got such low reviews in Rotten Tomatoes: are my tastes that far from the norm? Is Johnny Depp too quirky for his own good?  Do modern day, mass market comedies require copious amounts of jokes relating to bodily functions and homosexuality?  Perhaps.  

The local distributor did not do this movie any favours by marketing it the way they did, either, but, I could not blame them as, well, I'm not quite sure who else would enjoy watching this (GF certainly did, it was her choice, go my duckling!).  As it is, if you do plan on watching this, I think you should do so within the week (locally), as I doubt it'd show beyond Tuesday. We actually could not book a ticket straight off as there weren't enough people watching it (needed at least 5 other people). And it was a Saturday night to boot.

So, in the end, go watch this movie if:

1. You like Johnny Depp
2. You like Spy-ish Parody
3. You like something lowbrow without resorting to fart jokes

Verdict: 4/5

TL;DR:

+ Johnny Depp

+ Supporting Cast

++ Paul Bettany

++ Funny without being dumb, or too dumb

Details:

Release Date: January 21, 2015

Genre: Comedy, Heist?, Johnny Depp

Running Time: 106 Mins based on IMDB

Notable Stars: Johnny Depp, Gwynneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany

Seen On: Fisher Mall, the Cinema with restrooms inside

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3045616/