Zaki's Review: American Ultra

American Ultra posits a mildly amusing premise -- what if a stoned-out slacker found out he was Jason Bourne? -- and turns it into ninety or so minutes of filmmaking that are probably a lot more engaging than they have any right to be. Directed by Project X's Nima Nourizadeh and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (in a post-Adventureland reunion), it's a little too slapdash narratively and stylistically to be truly revolutionary, but it does offer its share of chuckles, and benefits both from the talented cast and a sprightly script by Max Landis (Chronicle).

Eisenberg plays the "Ultra" of the title, a grungy loser named Mike Howell who lives with his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) in a shack in the woods. When the two aren't toking up, Mike is manning the register at a convenience store in the middle of nowhere, dreaming up new adventures for the cartoon ape he created. This life of drug-addled contentment comes to an abrupt halt when government agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) shows up at his store, utters a mysterious phrase, and disappears.

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