With the arrival of the stoner/amnesiac/secret agent action flick “American Ultra,” we have officially reached peak Eisenberg.
Here playing a hapless West Virginia mini-mart clerk named Mike, Jesse Eisenberg is also currently starring in “The End of the Tour” as the journalist trying to crack David Foster Wallace’s big noggin. His short-story collection, “Bream Gives Me Hiccups,” comes out next month (he’s scheduled to read at Seattle Central Library on Nov. 9). And this summer he wrote and starred in the off-Broadway drama “The Spoils,” which got excellent reviews.
What next, politics? Brain surgery?
Eisenberg is best known for playing smart, flawed individuals, as in “The Social Network,” but I prefer him in offbeat genre stuff like the underrated 2009 “Zombieland” (which also has the advantage of a neat Bill Murray cameo — go rent it). Though not on the same level, “American Ultra” is clearly playing with that expectation: Mike starts out dumb, stoned, scattered and sweet. He’s in love with girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart, gradually putting the “Twilight” movies in her rear-view mirror). He’s seemingly a gentle slacker who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Until, unexpectedly to Mike as well as us, he’s not.
False identities and secret CIA programs enter with a spasm of violence, 25 minutes into the picture. Suddenly poor, bewildered Mike is spattered in blood—some his, mostly others’—and wondering, “What if I’m like a robot?” Where did his pre-programmed killing skills come from? Although I’ll write around the obvious, anyone watching will immediately think of the Bourne movies (and their parents: “The Manchurian Candidate”). I.e., nothing is what it seems, dude! As Mike and Phoebe begin to gather clues about his past life, “Ultra” is funnier in its comic situation than its execution. (Nima Nourizadeh directs and Max Landis writes, neither with much future promise.) The humor drops away with the slo-mo gunfire and fiery explosions — unlike “Pineapple Express,” to which “Ultra” will be unfavorably compared.
Familiar TV faces including Connie Britton, Walton Goggins and Tony Hale are cast strictly according to type. The truth is that you believe more in Britton, playing a disgraced CIA officer, than Eisenberg as stone-cold killer. She has an angry walk down the halls of Langley that signals lethal intent. (Topher Grace plays her smug agency rival; anyone wearing a three-piece suit these days is clearly a villain.) No one here is of Bourne caliber, making you wish they’d brought in the gag writers from “The Interview” to add more spoof.
Not that Eisenberg’s stock is greatly diminished (though now slightly past peak as you reach this paragraph). His next big role comes in March, with the “Batman v Superman” sequel. Who’s he playing? Do you even need to ask? Lex Luthor, of course. Smart, flawed, Eisenberg.
‘American Ultra’ (2 stars)
The prolific Jesse Eisenberg plays a sweet-natured slaker who discovers he possesses serious killing-machine skills. Kristen Stewart helps him gather clues to his past, while sinister CIA types want him dead. The Bourne-like premise could have used more spoof and fewer slo-mo shoot-outs.
Rated: R, for strong bloody violence, bad language, and (gasp) marijuana use.
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood Cinemas, Pacific Place, Sundance, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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