Bob Odenkirk continues his run as an action star following the Nobody films in the snowy small town of Normal, MN, in the new action movie from director Ben Wheatley.
In Normal, Odenkirk plays Ulysses, who makes his living serving as an interim sheriff in various towns around the country. Settling in for eights weeks in Normal, MN after the former sheriff’s death, Ulysses meets the town’s quirky townsfolk and seems to be in for an easy time until a bank robbery exposes a secret that the entire town is willing to kill for, leaving Ulysses having to battle for his life alongside a few allies, including the out of town bank robbers and Alex (Jess McLeod), the late sheriff’s adult child. The movie feels like a mix of Fargo (in which Odenkirk co-starred in the first season), Hot Fuzz, and Nobody. There’s some fun small-town comedy in the first half of the movie before it explodes into almost non-stop action for the second half. Even when it switches into action mode, though, there are still some darkly funny bits and over-the-top, gory deaths that will probably make you cringe and laugh in equal measure. The plot isn’t anything too original, but it does a good job of establishing the characters and settings, and there are a few twists and turns, especially with how everything ultimately resolves itself, that keep it from being completely formulaic.
Bob Odenkirk delivers another fantastic performance as Ulysses, bringing a mix of good-natured humor, gruffness, and tragic sadness to his character and making him feel like more than just a standard action hero. While I don’t think Ulysses is supposed to be the killing machine that Hutch Mansell is, Ulysses acquits himself perfectly fine with all manner of weaponry and explosives and basically wages a one-man war against his foes. It would have been interesting if he struggled a bit more to contrast Ulysses more with Hutch, but Odenkirk delivers another great action performance, so it’s not really a complaint. The rest of the cast is fun, especially when you get both the quirky small-town Minnesota side and the murderous mob side of everyone. Lena Headey is great as Moira, the local bar owner, and Henry Winkler seems like he’s having a blast as the conniving Mayor Kibner. Jess McLeod is also great as Alex, who brings emotional heft to their backstory and enthusiastically gets in on the action later on.
Blending small-town quirky humor with brutal, over-the-top violence, Normal is another entertaining entry in Bob Odenkirk’s new role as a full-fledged action star.
