Mortdecai

 MORTDECAI

Director : David Koepp

Year : 2015

Genre : Comedy

Rating : *

 

Johnny Depps' 5 year long string of box-office bombs sadly continues with 'Mortdecai', a deeply unfunny spy-caper based on the popular Kyril Bonfiglioli comic novel 'Don't Point That Thing At Me'. Playing an insufferable British art dealer who is roped in by the police to retrieve a missing Goya painting, Depp has never been worse as the mustachioed Mortdecai - a horrible Frankensteins monster of Captain Jack Sparrow, The Mad Hatter, Inspector Closeau and one of Eric Idle's overly English caricatures from 'Monty Pythons Flying Circus' (''Hairy blighter, dicky birded...''). Alongside Depp is an all-star cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany and Jeff Goldblum - actors who can be terrific when given the right script but cannot do anything but grimace and collect the pay check at the end of the day when confronted with a screenplay this devoid of any comedy and charm.

Director David Koepp has made some good, even great movies in the past ('Stir Of Echoes', 'Premium Rush' and 'Secret Window') and, as he has proved dozens of times before, Johnny Depp has the remarkable ability to to create memorable and likable characters with very little effort needed. However, an unfocused and sporadic narrative, far too many overlong action set pieces, a puerile comedic tone that doesn't seem to be aimed at one specific target audience (with far too much silly slapstick for adults and far too much unsuitable profanity and sex jokes for children) and a lack of remotely likable characters turn 'Mortdecai' into a teeth-grindingly annoying farce that fails to produce any laughs whatsoever but deftly manages to prolong the ever-expanding black hole that is Depps' once illustrious acting career.