Normal review: Bob Odenkirk leads so-so action-comedy
Bob Odenkirk stunned fans with his unexpected action turn in 2021’s Nobody and its 2025 sequel, and he’s clearly loving the genre because he’s back again in the similar-but-different Normal.
In the action-comedy, which Odenkirk wrote with Nobody scribe Derek Kolstad, the Better Call Saul actor plays Ulysses, a sheriff who arrives in the fictional town of Normal, Minnesota to hold down the fort following the death of the town’s previous sheriff. He’s basically a substitute teacher. Not much happens in the way of crime in this small, sleepy town – until one day, outsiders Lori (Reena Jolly) and Keith (Brendan Fletcher) attempt a bank robbery and uncover a town-wide conspiracy.
In the Nobody films, Odenkirk played a retired assassin who is a highly skilled fighter, if a little rusty. That’s not the case here: just like the title, Ulysses is much more of a normal person, although he has a respectable fitness level and gun proficiency thanks to his job. So don’t expect as much slick, well-executed action this time around. It’s messier and more chaotic, and that’s where the comedic tone comes in.
The beginning is really intriguing because you know there is something off with the town. There is a weird vibe, a sense that everybody is hiding something, and I enjoyed the mystery. Once we find out what it is, Normal basically becomes a non-stop fight sequence, or small fight sequences connected with little substance in between, and I got a bit bored with it after a while. There are some fun moments and inventive fight choreography at times, and the snowy Fargo-esque landscape makes it feel fresh, but I wasn’t fully satisfied.
As he has proven in the Nobody films, Odenkirk is perfectly capable of leading the charge of an action movie. Normal gives him the chance to play action, comedy and serious dramatic beats in the same role (he has a dark backstory). He has strong support from the likes of Henry Winkler as the town’s shady mayor and Lena Headey as the local no-BS barmaid, but my favourites were Billy MacLellan, bringing the laughs as his airhead deputy, and Jess McLeod, delivering heartfelt drama as the late sheriff’s child Alex.
Normal is a fairly entertaining action caper, but it doesn’t live up to the heights of the first Normal or director Ben Wheatley‘s 2016 action gem Free Fire.
In cinemas from Friday 15th May