For audiences of a certain generation, Bob Odenkirk is the dude from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and more latterly the ass-kicking action hero of the awesome Nobody. While that’s true, and he’s been excellent in all three of those projects, there are many more strings to his bow.
He won Emmys for writing Saturday Night Live and The Ben Stiller Show, worked on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, formed a cult favorite comedic duo with David Cross, and even dabbled in directing feature films. While his debut Melvin Goes to Dinner holds a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, his subsequent pair of flicks haven’t fared quite as well.
2006’s crime comedy Let’s Go to Prison fared the worst with a paltry 13 percent score, with the following year’s The Brothers Solomon just about beating it out with 16 percent. Odenkirk hasn’t helmed a movie in the 15 years since, but the former has suddenly become an unexpected streaming smash hit out of nowhere.
As per FlixPatrol, the cliched comic escapade following Dax Shepard’s career criminal attempting to exact revenge on the late judge responsible for his incarceration by making life behind bars misery for the (wrongly convicted) son of his tormentor has become one of the 10 most-watched titles on Hulu over the weekend.
Odenkirk plays a small part onscreen alongside Shepard, Will Arnett, David Koechner, Chi McBride, Dylan Baker, and Michael Shannon, but it wouldn’t be too harsh to say he’s a much better actor and writer than he is a director.