Johnny Depp continues his tryst with oddballs as he jumps into this farcical tale of shady dealings of an aristocratic art dealer called Charlie Mortdecai. The idea is to create another character on the lines of British funny man Peter Sellers but with a moth eaten script to work with director David Koepp fails to bring Mortdecai anywhere close to the benchmark.
A British lord who describes himself as a rogue, Mortdecai is called into service when a Goya painting goes missing in mysterious circumstances. Alistair Martland (Ewan McGregor), his Oxford classmate, who is now in MI-5 wants him to uncover the plot so that he gets an opportunity to rekindle his feelings for Mortdecai’s bossy wife (Gwyneth Paltrow goes through the motions). As Mortdecai sets out on the mission with his trusted man servant (Paul Bettany) who is as goofy as his master, we wait for a new beast to emerge from the clothing of Pink Panther. But the writing is more like a sitcom hurriedly put together to create a few laughs. Mortdecai’s fascination for his moustache and his observations on Los Angeles make for hilarious situations but Koepp’s ham fisted approach kills the fun.
He has a stellar star cast which tries hard, at times a little too hard, to keep the gags going but apart from a few grins Depp and company fail to generate a mirthful environment, crucial for such dim-witted adventures. The scene keeps shifting from Hong Kong to London to Moscow to Los Angeles but all through the scenario seems staged with Depp leading the way in theatrics. He has a way with larger than life characters and his one-liners in British accent do create some interest. Like the one when in an attempt to woo his dominating wife with a ‘quick session of congress’. And the physical comedy with Paul Bettany does provide momentary pleasure but as a whole it remains as fake as the work of art Mortdecai is after.
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Genre : Adventure/Comedy
Director : David Koepp
Cast : Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Olivia Munn
Bottomline: A madcap entertainer that tries too hard to sell its wares.