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First, I didn't buy the Sharon Stone villain. Nobody 2 is a Summer smash-up that aims for an understated comedic moment. Stone was just too over-the-top, and the script did her no favors. This flick is loud and violent, and it needed a quiet, menacing villain that could throw out a little twisted humor. Instead, I could only envision the director saying to Stone: "act more crazy!". That was a miss.

Same goes for Christopher Lloyd. I immediately think crazy when I see him. Somebody like JK Simmons would have been a better choice but hey, budgets, I guess.

Now the good stuff: Odenkirk and Nielsen totally worked. Great chemistry and Nielsen wasn't just written as part of the background. Nobody 2 really wasn't all that different from the first movie but that's ok. It's a Summer flick and set as a family vacation in an amusement park. That's enough of a change for me.

Lots of action, Bob Odenkirk getting laughs while playing it straight, formulaic conflict, a cheesy A-Team style climax, all clocking in mercifully under 1.5 hours - turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

It's hard to find a flaw in this movie. It's very similar in atmosphere (and score) to Heat, but with more actual robberies. And while the action is great, the outstanding acting is the reason this movie works. Blake Lively, John Hamm, and Jeremy Renner could have all won best supporting Oscars. The scene with Hamm and Lively in the bar, for example, is simply outstanding. Give some credit to Ben Affleck for that bit too. If there is a better actor than Jeremy Renner to play a Charlestown bank robber then I haven't seen him. The dude exudes danger. Watch it if you get a chance, it's in my all time top ten.

It's better because it really didn't make a splash at the box office. At about ten minutes in, I thought Russell Hammond was going to be a Dickey Betts lookalike used to spoof the Allmans and other seventies bands, but it was so much better than that. Instead we get a 100% believable story of William Miller's (aka Cameron Crowe) rock journalism career launch. The writing, plot, and cast (particularly Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, and Patrick Fugit) were outstanding. If it were up to me Billy Crudup would have Best Supporting Oscar on his mantle for his part. Oh, and like so many of my favorite flicks, the soundtrack pulled me back to my younger days to better my understanding of the film. A masterpiece.