BeautifulBallad Reviews American Ultra

American Ultra is a new action comedy directed by Nima Nourizadeh, which follows Michael Howell as he discovers, in mere hours, that he is more than just a stoner with anxiety attacks, but really a CIA experiment. Reuniting Adventureland actors Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg, American Ultra generally lacks plot depth and skims the comedic surface.

The film kicks off with Mike (Eisenberg) contemplating the perfect moment to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Phoebe (Stewart). As the moment gets closer, the government begins to chase Mike after discovering that their experiment is still alive. This forces Mike and Phoebe to go on the run and eventually causes Mike’s training to “reactivate”.

The film is quick to kick off the action, but slow to get any real plot going. Eisenberg and Stewart do well with the material presented to them in this film because neither are asked to stretch their acting too far. They portray characters not out of their comfort zones. Connie Britton does a decent job playing an uptight CIA agent while Topher Grace seemed to have a bit of fun playing the film’s antagonist.

Overall, American Ultra is an honest film, but unsatisfying. Pay only for an afternoon showing or wait for the film to come out on Blu-Ray/DVD.

Grade: B-