[7]

Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart star in this edgy action comedy about a stoner convenience clerk who discovers he’s a sleeper agent and deadly assassin for the CIA. Together with his devoted girlfriend, he dodges CIA operatives ordered to destroy him while also trying to figure out whether his whole life has been a lie. American Ultra is a surprisingly violent black comedy — let’s drink to that! — written by Max Landis (son of director John Landis). Landis and director Nima Nourizadeh ground the film in Eisenberg and Stewart’s quirky but earnestly compelling relationship. That relationship and the two leading performances, which threaten to get buried in the film’s action-packed final third, make this movie work. I’ve always liked Eisenberg, but I never liked Stewart until now. We also get fun supporting performances from John Leguizamo and Bill Pullman. Connie Britton does a solid job as the rogue CIA agent trying to save Eisenberg’s life. The only sour note for me was Topher Grace, whose character is so over-the-top and comically evil, he begins to derail the movie’s otherwise fine tonal balance.