ALL’S TOO QUIET // A FILM REVIEW OF “NORMAL”
BY MATEO MORENO
You know those really small towns across America? The kind that you pass through on your way to somewhere else. Maybe you stop and get a cup of coffee at a charming diner, or you fill up your car at a gas station that seems straight out of the 1950’s. Or maybe you stop for lunch at a restaurant where everyone says, “Howdy” as you walk by and the waitress said, “Well, I reckon…” before finishing off her sentence of what you should order. They’re quaint. Charming. Towns that feel completely normal, maybe even boring in a charming kind of way. But there’s something that feels… off. Something bubbling under the surface. Now, I’m not downing small towns in general. But there are some, some that everything seems just a bit too perfect, it makes your skin crawl a bit and you don’t know why. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you just can’t quite explain it. That’s the kind of town we find in Bob Odenkirk’s latest action-comedy NORMAL. Everything seems fine, a bit too fine, on the surface. And of course, it’s anything but.
The opening scene sets us up for some of the horrors to come, but once we’re in Normal, Minnesota, everything is quiet and as gentle as can be. Odenkirk plays Ulysses Richardson, a man who’s starting a interim Sheriff job in Normal. He’s a man haunted by his past and needing a slower change of pace. The entire town practically welcomes him with open arms, including his fellow Police Officers (which includes Ryan Allen & Billy MacLellan), a local bartender (Lena Headey) and even the mayor (Henry Winkler). Yet something just doesn’t sit right with Ulysses. Something seems off about how the last Sheriff died, even though they say it was a heart attack. He’s asking questions but not getting any real answers. Then, a pair of out-of-towners try to rob a bank there and that’s when everything just simply goes to shit. And Normal because anything but.
Much like Liam Neeson, Bob Odenkirk is finding a late career relaunch of sorts as a reluctant action hero (Nobody, Nobody 2) and now the director of those films has co-written this film with Odenkirk himself to help shape out the world (with Ben Wehatley stepping in to direct). And just like those previous two films, this one shines in all the right spots. Odenkirk is great as the seemingly doesn’t give a shit Sheriff and when he awakens to what’s happening around him, he’s the action hero we all need. He’s funny and charming and real, and completely believable as a man who may not be in over his head as much as the town thinks. Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan give some much-appreciated comic support and Jess McLeod, who shows up as the ex-Sheriff’s troubled daughter, is a great sparring partner with Odenkirk. Add in some really fun colorful performances by. Henry Winkler and Lena Headey and you’ve got yourself a slam-bam winner of an action comedy. There are also a few really fun twists in the story that keeps the short running time continuously interesting. In days where real life seems overwhelming and you can’t always laugh at the horrors around you, Normal offers a staycation of sorts. A film that is clever and fun and lets you just simply enjoy your time at the movies for 90 minutes. A nice breather indeed.
GRADE: A-
STORY BY Derek Kolstad, Bob Odenkirk SCREENPLAY BY Derek Kolstad DIRECTED BY Ben Wheatley STARRING Bob Odenkirk, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, Jess McLeod, Henry Winkler, Lena Headey. NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE