Title: Normal
Describe This Movie In One Monty Python Quote:
MR. MOUSEBENDER: What a senseless waste of human life.
Brief Plot Synopsis: Mild-mannered man metes messy mayhem.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 2 road flares out of 5.
Tagline: “Small town. Big secret.”
Better Tagline: “Well your Nobody called today.“
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk) just landed a job as the interim sheriff in the quaint town of Normal, Minnesota. After a … let’s call it “unfortunate incident” at his previous gig, he’s happy to mark time until the next local election. However, Richardson soon realizes things in Normal are anything but. For it turns out Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler) has struck upon a novel solution to the death of the American dream.
“Critical” Analysis: I’m a Bob Odenkirk fan. He was the secret weapon and not-so-secret best part of The Ben Stiller Show. HBO’s Mr. Show with Bob and David remains one of the greatest sketch programs of all time. And Better Call Saul, in which Vince Gilligan wisely chose to give Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman his own show, may have been the last gasp of “prestige television.” In the parlance of “The Bobs,” I celebrate the guy’s entire catalog.
Or I did, until Normal came along.
The “Odenkirk as a secret bad ass” genre kicked off with 2021’s Nobody. That movie, and it’s sequel, were written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad. Kolstad returns to familiar territory with Normal, dropping a seemingly average individual into a deceptively dangerous setting. The key difference here is that Ulysses Richardson isn’t an ex-hitman or similar, he’s just a cop who lost his job (and his marriage) after a “bad shooting.”
Richardson soon realizes there’s nothing normal about his new town. The local diner is festooned with (possibly loaded) firearms, for example. And the police armory is loaded to the gills with everything from automatic rifles to C-4 (courtesy of plentiful DHS grants). Meanwhile, the friendly elderly craft lady happens to have a police scanner in her shop. Richardson, an interim appointee, is content to let the small town eccentricities slide until Mayor Kibner drops hints that he might want to consider sticking around.
Odenkirk’s strength in these sorts of movies is his believability as a regular dude. His Midwestern blandness* initially suckers you in, until he shows his lethal skills. After two Nobodys, Richardson is something of a pleasant surprise. He’s not a former assassin (or “auditor,” whatever), he’s merely competent. And when faced with a mob of heavily armed yet wholly untrained townsfolk, that can be enough.
But similarities with Kolstad’s previous movies persist. You’ve got another dog (it’s safe, relax), and Kolstad and director Ben Wheatley also pile up an impressive number of kills. That they’re often played for laughs is only part of the problem. The other is how comparatively monotonous movies like this have become. John Wick has a lot to answer for: namely, the decade-long stream of movies (Bullet Train, Fight or Flight, Wheatley’s own Free Fire) featuring comically staged mayhem and gun fu.
Normal plays into both Odenkirk’s ordinary dudeness and Wheatley’s penchant for filming lots of people shooting the hell out of each other. But the whole concept is wearing out its welcome. An entire town’s complicity in a criminal cover-up isn’t exactly a novel concept (unless you’ve never seen a Western), never mind that watching the nth hilariously “accidental” death wears thin quickly.
I get it: catharsis is fun. Watching scumbags blowing up is satisfying. The problem is, these movies have become a chore to watch, as opposed to a pleasantly violent diversion. Perhaps it’s time for Kolstad to create another sub-genre we can then ruthlessly milk for another 10-15 years.
*Speaking as a fellow bland Midwesterner, this isn’t necessarily an insult.
Normal is in theaters today.
