Normal film review: Abundance of amusing anomalies
A fun ride through some familiar tropes which brings together the singular talents Bob Odenkirk and Ben Wheatley
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The man behind Kill List, Sightseers, A Field In England and, most recently, Bulk, visionary English filmmaker Ben Wheatley is known for his audaciously eccentric, sometimes strikingly sinister output, often created in collaboration with his partner Amy Jump. Wheatley has also been available as a director for hire on other people’s projects, with somewhat less successful results: 2020’s underwhelming Rebecca remake and the less-fun-than-it-looked Meg 2: The Trench. Although Normal fits into the latter bracket, thankfully Wheatley is working with better material this time.
Normal introduces us to Ulysees (a perfectly cast Bob Odenkirk), the interim sheriff of the titular Minnesotan town, who for personal and professional reasons has decided to adopt a disastrously detached approach to his duties. When a robbery of the local bank inadvertently unveils the answer to what’s going on in this unexpectedly thriving and heavily armed community, Ulysees finds himself pitted against the considerable firepower of the locals, while the Yakuza aren’t far behind. Henry Winkler plays the town’s mayor, with Lena Headey the local bartender.
The script from Derek Kolstad (working from a story he devised with Odenkirk) is pretty funny and the set-up is handled superbly, as Ulysees stifles his suspicions and we’re asked to clock an abundance of amusing anomalies. The action is exciting and explosive, with a Fargo-esque familiarity to the setting and humour, and a touch of Assault On Precinct 13 and Wheatley’s 2016 effort Free Fire, while the blend of western-infused crime comedy and eastern action evokes Tarantino. Sadly, in keeping with the deliberately humdrum title, there’s nothing attention-grabbingly original that sets the film apart (check out Hell Or High Water for a great neo-western), but Normal remains a fun, well-assembled ride through some tried-and-tested tropes.
Normal is in cinemas from Friday 15 May.