Before Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk Starred In Arguably the Worst Comedy Known to Mankind
He didn't just act in a sketch, he actually wrote and directed it.
Have you ever looked back at an actor's career and had to do a double take, wondering how they ended up in a certain film? That's precisely how many fans of Better Call Saul must feel when they stumble upon Bob Odenkirk's venture in Movie 43.
Yes, you heard that right. The same Bob Odenkirk who masterfully brings to life the cunning and morally gray lawyer, Saul Goodman, in the acclaimed Breaking Bad and its spin-off once dipped his toes into this muddled and chaotic film.
Movie 43 is a unique beast in the comedy genre. It's not your usual comedy. It's not even your usual bad comedy. It's an inexplicably disastrous film, a parade of disconnected sketches stuffed with A-list actors that feels more like a bizarre fever dream than a movie.
A lot of things in this film make you scratch your head, but the biggest mystery is how a bunch of talented people got roped into it.
Bob Odenkirk had his own part in this disaster, where he both wrote and directed a sketch. The segment involved parents, played by Julianne Moore and Tony Shalhoub, who are desperately seeking their exhibitionist daughter Susie with the help of an unseen private investigator (voiced by Odenkirk himself).
The sketch didn't even make it into the final cut of the movie, only surfacing as an extra on the DVD and Blu-ray release.
But Odenkirk wasn't the only talented person to get involved in the abysmal production. Somehow, the future Oscar-winning director of Green Book, Peter Farrelly, co-produced and co-directed this mess.
And James Gunn, the brilliant mind behind Guardians of the Galaxy, was pulled in to direct a short where a cartoon cat harbors some, let's just say, disturbing feelings for Josh Duhamel.
And what about the actors? In addition to Moore, we're talking about Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Richard Gere, and Halle Berry. The big question here is, why? How did such a catastrophe ensnare so much talent?
Movie 43 is one of those cinematic experiences that's almost fascinating in its awfulness. There's something perversely compelling about a comedy film that tries to shoot for the stars and ends up, well, face down in the mud.