American Ultra is a strange and confused movie. It wants to be a dark action/comedy, but fails to produce many laughs, while at the same time centers on an incredibly touching and sincere romance between its two leads, Jesse Eiesenberg and Kristen Stewart. This dichotomy leads to a difficult relationship within the movie, where the sweetness of Eisenberg and Stewart is fighting against the awfulness of nearly everyone else in the movie and the incredible shifts in tone that this causes drags the film down a bit. However, the action is staged nicely and there is a lot of cool practical effects in the movie that give the completely impossible actions happening on screen a little more reality.
The plot in brief is something we have heard many times
before. Mike and Phoebe (Eisenberg and Stewart) are a young stoner couple
working average, minimum wage type jobs. Their lives are turned upside down
over the revelation that Mike is actually a CIA sleeper agent who has been
targeted for termination by CIA operative Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). Mike’s
previous handler Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) activates Mike in an
attempt to both save Mike and stop Yates. Let the killing ensue from there.
The movies greatest strength is the performances of
Eisenberg and Stewart, who have a great chemistry and really sell their
relationship. The scenes between the two of them are so great, and they help
prop up the rest of the performances. There is a scene in the very beginning of
the film between Eisenberg and Stewart where they are driving back home from an
airport, and the conversation they have is so incredibly sweet and wonderful
and early on sets up this great relationship the two of them have. There are
several moments like that where Eisenberg and Stewart’s performances kind of
serve as a lifeline of emotional reality next to a bunch of crazy fight scenes.
Stewart is particularly good in American
Ultra, and she might have been my favorite part of the movie. There is a
sense of fun between her and Eisenberg, and she sells so well Phoebe’s love for
Mike that at no point are you left wondering why she stays with him, even when
it seems like there is little holding her there. Most importantly, she has some
moments that really got me emotionally, and part of that is me bringing my own
baggage to the party, but that is never enough. Stewart really had to bring it
in those scenes, and I certainly think she does.
The other performances are not nearly as impressive as
either Eisenberg or Stewart. Topher Grace is playing a part we have seen a
million times: the over-ambitious, Machiavellian prick. I’m not saying he does
that job poorly, but the performance never transcends the trope it is based on.
Walter Goggins falls into that same trap, and Connie Britton never really
brings much to the table for me. To be fair, none of these characters are
particularly deep to begin with, and the actors probably did just about as well
as could have been asked, there just isn’t much there.
The biggest problem with this movie is its tone. What it
wants is to be a dark comedy with some cool action sequences. The problem is,
none of the dark comedy lands, and the few laughs it does have come mainly from
Eisenberg and Stewart. That is a real problem, because everything that was
supposed to be funny now just comes off as kind of gross and mean. Thankfully,
there is Mike and Phoebe’s relationship to fall back on, but many of the jokes
miss and this definitely takes away from the movie. The action is quite good,
which also helps. Everything is edited well, nothing is ever confusing, and a
lot of the effects appear to have been done practically, which helps ground
some of the crazy impossible stuff that the characters can do. There are a few
moments where the camera is probably a little too close and things start to
feel a somewhat claustrophobic, but other than that the action is entertaining
and bloody. There is some really good squib work here as well, which most
hardcore action fans will appreciate.
American Ultra is certainly hit and miss, but the highs are overall stronger than the lows, and at just over 90 minutes, is paced too quickly to dwell on the weaker moments. As a stoner
black comedy, this movie fails. But as a stoner action/romance, this movie
succeeds. So if you can get over the tonal mishaps and the sub par minor
characters, you will probably have a pretty good time.
By Tim Smedlund
