Mortdecai

Gwyneth Paltrow plays Johanna Mortdecai, the long-suffering wife who is arguably the most competent person in the film. She possesses the icy cool of a Hitchcockian blonde but isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (or slap her husband for his facial hair). Her chemistry with Depp is that of a bickering old married couple, providing a grounding force to Mortdecai's flights of fancy.

. Billed as a globetrotting action-comedy, it arrived with a stellar cast, a pedigree of cult-classic source material, and a prosthetic lip attachment that launched a thousand think-pieces.

The film, directed by David Koepp, attempts to capture this spirit but ramps up the slapstick. It places Mortdecai in a plot involving a stolen Goya painting, international terrorists, Russian mobsters, and the British Secret Service. While the book series was often described as a blend of P.G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler, the film leans heavily into the Wodehouse aspect, trading genuine danger for farcical set pieces.