American Ultra | Film review - Jesse Eisenberg's dorky slacker finds some killer moves

By
( )
published

American Ultra - Jesse Eisenberg & Kristen Stewart

American Ultra Jesse Eisenberg Kristen Stewart (Image credit: Alan Markfield)

Jesse Eisenberg's dorky small-town slacker discovers he is actually a CIA sleeper agent with deadly skills in darkly funny, ultra-violent comedy thriller American Ultra.

Imagine Bill and Ted thrust into the midst of The Bourne Identity and you will have some idea of what's in store as Eisenberg's unlikely action hero revives his forgotten training to fend off the assassins sent to liquidate him, while also striving to protect his girlfriend, played by Kristen Stewart.

The film's comic and action modes sometimes jar, but Eisenberg and Stewart are fabulous together.

starstrip3

Certificate 15. Runtime 96 mins. Director Nima Nourizadeh

American Ultra is showing on Sky Movies Premiere today and is available on Blu-ray & DVD, courtesy of Entertainment in Video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLGFwkRx2HA

CATEGORIES
Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.