Mortdecai

Strange film, but the second half won me over. The strangest thing about the film is that although the plot is quite trivial and not very revelatory, the film features both very unconventional humour and a lot of interesting dialogue with colourful vocabulary, which will probably make me watch the film a second time, I haven't seen or remember such great British slang with interesting phrases. The central trio is flawless in acting, Johnny Depp is annoying at times, but those who are used to him know what to expect and I even had a few decent laughs. The scene in the American hotel was over the top. I don't recommend going to the cinema, but perfect for a relaxing Sunday evening. 65% (07.02.2015)

Kyril Bonfiglioli's Mortdecai is often compared to the poetics of P. G. Wodehouse. The film version is more of a classic experience for die-hard Johnny Depp fans. The rest of the stars happily help him out - Ewan McGregor as the classic side-kick who thinks of Mrs. Mortdecai played by the ever-dangerously beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Goldblum caricaturing himself, Paul Bettany overstepping his shadow and Olivia Munn never more attractive. Sometimes you just have to have no preconceived notions and let the film inspire what you read. (12.11.2020)

I was wondering whether or not Mortdecai would win my favor. The moment it appeared in cinemas, quite a large number of viewers gave it scathing reviews on this site, which gave me a pause. So when I went to cinema too see it, I was ready for just about anything. Mortdecai, however, didn’t disappoint me. It might be wacky, and contain not a few cringy situations. But it is also a film that is nice to watch, and that made me laugh as hard with some of its scenes as it hasn’t happened to me in a while. The humor is, in my opinion, similar to that in Grandhotel Budapest. The advantage of Grandhotel, however, lied in the fact that it featured a lot of interesting actors. Only Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Goldblum and especially Paul Bettany stand out here. The rest is kind of superfluous and that’s the biggest problem with this movie. Nevertheless, I will rate it with four stars, because I always enjoy watching wacky movies like this. Despite Mortdecai’s shortcomings, it doesn’t deserve the rating it has from local users. From about halfway into the movie, the entire packed movie theater was laughing and that laughter didn’t seem as mediocre as the ratings on this site would make it look. (08.02.2015)

Johnny Depp seems to be stuck in a box from which he probably won't emerge, and if he does, it's only ever briefly. His characters all seem to blend together, which can be quite tiresome, but on the other hand, it can't be denied that he has comedic potential within him. I liked how stylized the film was, and I had a good time watching it. Paul Bettany is great, and Olivia and Gwyneth are beautiful, although Gwyneth should gain a little weight, she's too thin. (31.05.2015)

Sorry, but Mortdecai is a very sadly failed comedy. Several times in the move theatre, I thought of the wishy-washy first Johnny English, with which the film has a lot in common. Well, especially a lot of the bad stuff. What's wrong with English is wrong with Mortdecai. And vice versa - what is good in English is not good at all in Mortdecai. Alas. Johnny Depp's joke-free script (although he tries, critics!), unlike Rowan Atkinson, didn't save the day, the other actors and actresses didn't do anything amazing either, except for the final fencing and the fall of the wooden box, there was perhaps no action insert to distract the viewer's attention from the attempts at humor elsewhere, and the strangely cobbled-together story was also miserable... This is probably how The Grand Budapest Hotel would have turned out if it had been written and filmed by someone who shouldn't have written and filmed it. (04.02.2015)