Say what you will of Johnny Depp, but he brings a quirkiness to the roles he essays and stamps them with his distinctive touch. From Edward Scissorhands through the Pirates of the Caribbean to Secret Window , Depp has showcased his prodigious talent.
It is, therefore, easy to fathom why he may have been drawn to the eponymous Mortdecai character in this film that passes for a goofy comedy.
Lord Mortdecai is a bumbling, bankrupt British aristocrat art-dealer who finds himself on the trail of a stolen Goya painting believed to have clues to a Nazi hoard.
The character has dottiness written all over it, and seems tailor-made for Depp. And, to be fair, Depp himself appears to be having enormous fun throughout the film. Sadly for his fans though, none of that fun is infectious.
And since the film relies so heavily on Depp to carry it, the whole thing turns out to be a crashing bore.
Depp is avowedly earnest about fleshing out the idiosyncracies of the Mortdecai character, and makes him out to be a cross between Bertie Wooster and Inspector Jacques Clouseau. But beyond a point, the contrived British mannerisms and diction become grating.
Depp and director David Koepp are virtually twin souls — they were both born on June 9, 1963 — and came together so splendidly in Secret Window , which was based on a Stephen King thriller.
But none of that old magic lingers in Mortdecai; worse, Koepp is merely a shadow of the man who was associated (as director or as screenplay writer) with milestone movies like Jurassic Park , Mission: Impossible , Spider-Man and Angels & Demons .
Mortdecai has, in fact, an embarrassment of riches when it comes to artistic talent. Besides Depp, there’s Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Bettany and Ewan McGregor.
But the leggy Paltrow does little more than look hot in jodhpurs.
And none of the others, barring Bettany (who plays the role of a un-Jeeves-like Jeeves to Depp’s Wooster), even show signs of life.
Mortdecai
Director: David Koepp
Cast: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Goldblum
