We’ve seen plenty of spy thrillers and countless stoner comedies, but have we ever seen a stoner spy movie? That’s the conceit of the new film American Ultra anyway, and it’s a mish-mash that takes the best qualities of each genre and becomes something new that’s actually really fun. A lot of reviews have called this film “Stoner Bourne”, and that’s a catchy way to put it, but also a bit lazy because it’s not entirely accurate — this film doesn’t quite have the enormous globe-trotting stakes that most spy films ride on, nor does it reduce its characters to their pot-smoking proclivities. Instead, American Ultra is at its core a surprisingly intimate character study that asks whether who we are is determined by our circumstances or by our own choices. And, yeah, it also has lots of laughs and really cool action sequences.
Slacker Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) lives a very peaceful life. He works the late shift at a local convenience store in his small West Virginia town. When he’s at home, he hangs out and smokes pot with his long-term girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart, reuniting with her Adventureland co-star). He is also a talented comic book artist, though he doesn’t have enough drive to actually do anything with it. Unbeknownst to Mike, he is also a sleeper agent for the CIA. When the agency decides one day that Mike has become a liability and must be terminated, Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), the agent who ran the program that created him, travels to West Virginia to activate him and save his life. Before the night is over, many people are killed, many secrets are revealed, and Mike and Phoebe find themselves confronting real life for the first time ever — and trying not to get murdered by a mentally unhinged assassin named Laugher (Walton Goggins).
The film packs plenty of twists into its 96-minute run-time, but its biggest surprise of all may be how committed its leads are to their grounded, emotional performances. Eisenberg is convincing as an unambitious but lovable slacker, but Stewart is unquestionably best in show. The former Twilight star has a rare ability to channel any emotion so completely through her soulful eyes and expressive face that it always seems like she is a real person that the events of the film are actually happening to, rather than an actress playing pretend. And this is just a fluffy summer film that she’s producing such a high-quality performance for. She was also revelatory last winter in Still Alice, which won Julianne Moore an Oscar. If Stewart keeps this up, I can easily see her establishing herself as one of the greatest actresses of her generation. In American Ultra, she and Eisenberg have such lived-in chemistry, conveying years of love and companionship in every glance and exchange. Never at any moment do Mike and Phoebe seem like stock characters or parodies — these are three-dimensional human beings behaving in convincing human ways who just happen to be surrounded by ridiculous, larger-than-life situations.
The supporting roles, alas, are not quite as developed as they could have been. Britton is tough and efficient as a betrayed CIA operative, and it’s a pleasing contrast to the warm, earthy women she’s famous for playing on television (on Friday Night Lights and Nashville). I’ve always found it striking to hear a network TV star swearing in movies, and it’s no different here — part of the fun of American Ultra is to hear Rayna Jaymes wrap her mouth around an f-word. Oh, and she does it with such conviction! I never, however, got a sense of who Victoria Lasseter is when she’s not working. The character is given no personal life, no family. I understand that the film takes place mostly over a single night, but she doesn’t seem to exist outside of her job. Topher Grace plays Yates, the CIA heavy who orders that Lasseter’s asset be terminated behind her back, and he’s about as slimy and horrible as you could hope for. Yates is totally one-note — he’s basically a cartoon villain — but Grace plays him with such nasty glee that you root for him to have the worst punishment imaginable. John Leguizamo also pops up, as Mike’s colourful drug dealer, and he’s fun, but he’s just playing a caricature. Goggins (FX’s Justified) gets perhaps the most interesting supporting character. His Laugher is established as a one-dimensional cartoon villain — and he’s absolutely terrifying — but Goggins manages to reveal unexpected depth and sadness in the assassin late in the film.
American Ultra is only the second film by director Nima Nourizadeh (Project X), but he shows the confidence of a far more seasoned filmmaker. Here, he’s created some truly original and thrilling action sequences. Mike is a lethal fighter when he needs to be, and he’s a veritable MacGyver when it comes to creating weapons out of whatever’s handy; spoons, soup, frying pans, light bulbs — anything nearby can be used to take an opponent out. These action sequences are the source for some of the film’s heartiest laughs, and their exaggerated violence is deliciously over-the-top. The screenplay by Max Landis (Chronicle) feels like something that’s based on a comic book, and it’s remarkable that Landis was able to tap into that tone so successfully with an original story. Between this and his first produced screenplay, Landis is swiftly establishing himself as a promising and intelligent writer who writes emotional, character-based stories that both bring to mind and subvert our expectations of a comic book movie. I’m eager to see what he does next.
Flawed though it may be, American Ultra is ultimately an endlessly fun action comedy that is also far more emotional and grounded in humanity than it needed to be. I don’t understand why the reviews have been so poor — ignore them. This is one that’s well worth your time.
