Review: Mortdecai

Before being badly brought to life onscreen in the sometimes amusing Mortdecai, the character of Lord Charlie Mortdecai was the mustachioed centerpiece of a series of fairly popular novels by Kyril Bonfiglioli. The books chronicled the adventurous capers of the amoral snob and his ever faithful and libidinous manservant, Jock Strapp. Their relationship owed more than a passing nod to P.G. Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves, and Mortdecai was a spiritual descendant of E.W. Hornung's gentleman thief Raffles (a role essayed by the debonair Ronald Colman and David Niven in various film versions).

Mortdecai is a dandy of the highest order, completely self-serving, and a sophisticate who often admired the talents of the shady characters he encountered. Depp, drawing inspiration from Peter Sellers and Paul Whitehouse (appearing in the film as an art-smuggling mechanic), smothers the character with a barrage of tics and mannerisms, resulting in a performance that delights as much as it frustrates. Based on the first installment in the Mortdecai series, Don't Point That Thing at Me, the film finds Mortdecai embroiled in a search for a stolen painting purported to contain a code that could lead to Nazi treasure. Mortdecai and Jock trot the globe - popping up in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Moscow - whilst MI5 agent Alistair Martland (Ewan McGregor) tends after Johanna (Gwyneth Paltrow), his longtime unrequited love and Mortecai's blithely exasperated wife.

Director David Koepp maintains a brisk space, and there is a lot of energy coursing through the film. At the time of their creation, Mortdecai and Jock were already a throwback to the groovy baby vibe of the Swinging Sixties. Koepp and screenwriter Eric Aronson plop them in present times but, unlike Austin Powers - who elicited laughs from the conflict between past and present attitudes - the characters are drained of the very politically incorrect behaviour that may have prevented them from being mere caricatures.

Depp is obviously enjoying himself and he can be fun to watch, but his predilection for indulging in the eccentricities isolates him from those around him. Mortdecai, much like television's Columbo, was less about the plot than its digressions - the way character behaves under certain circumstances, or their interactions with supporting players who existed to dole out information whilst providing local colour. There are plenty of tangents in Mortdecai but because Depp, in his quest to create another oddball figure, doesn't play well with others, the scenes come off as flat, hollow, and pointless.

Mortdecai

Directed by: David Koepp

Written by: Eric Aronson; based on Kyril Bonfiglioli's novel Don't Point That Thing at Me

Starring: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Olivia Munn, Ulrich Thomsen, Jonny Pasvolsky, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Whitehouse, Michael Culkin