Shady art dealer Lord Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny
Depp) is
days away from losing the family estate if he doesn’t pay $8 million in
debt. He is recruited by an MI-5 agent
(Ewan McGregor)- an old romantic rival for the affections of Charlie’s wife
(Gwyneth Paltrow)- to get back a stolen and priceless Goya painting that was
thought to be lost. Mortdecai and his
manservant Jock (Paul Bettany)- who happens to get laid frequently- are off to
find the painting and encounter a variety of characters (a terrorist, a Russian
mobster, the guy who wants to buy Charlie’s car and the guy’s nymphomaniac
daughter (Olivia Munn) who think Mortdecai has the stolen Goya.
MORTDECAI reminds you of the slapstick plots
you see in the
old Pink Panther movies and it is a passion project for Johnny Depp who loves
the Mortdecai novels by Kyril Bonfgioli (with this movie being adapted from one
of those books, Don’t Point That Thing at Me).
Sometimes the movie is good with the comedy and sometimes the plot is a
mess as David Koepp is a director for hire (and one wonders why Koepp didn’t
have his hand in writing the screenplay which is credited to Eric Aronson).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
STOLEN MOMENTS (“ON THE SET OF MORTDECAI”)
is a
behind-the-scenes featurette with cast interviews (Johnny Depp, Gwyneth
Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Olivia Munn)
THE ART OF NOISE- a
behind-the-scenes look at the score of the movie as one of the two composers
(Geoff Zanelli) talks about the writing, recording, and themes of the movie’s
score
Theatrical teaser and full theatrical trailer
(which
includes a deleted map gag and part of a deleted scene) are here in addition to
previews for THE DUFF, SPARE PARTS, WILD CARD,
THE VOICES, TRACERS, and WHILE WE’RE YOUNG.
A code to stream and download an ultraviolet
digital copy of
the movie is also included.
FINAL ANALYSIS: MORTDECAI reminds me of the Pink
Panther
movies starring Peter Sellers. It is a
strange and sometimes funny movie, but it comes off sometimes as Johnny Depp’s
vanity project instead of a movie that should have been clever as the Pink
Panther films.
This review is ©5-14-2015
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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