Normal (2025) - Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

BEN Wheatley’s Normal is a film that oddly thrives by trading on the familiar - and then just blowing the shit out of it.

In terms of composition, it owes a lot to the sometimes quirky style of classic Coens and their Fargo in particular (as well as the subsequent TV series by Noah Hawley). It also pays more than a little lip service to Wheatley’s own Free Fire, another single location thriller that spent a large part of its running time with extended gun battles.

Its leading man, Bob Odenkirk, also trades on the familiarity of one of his previous roles, as an everyman action figure in Nobody.

Odenkirk did, in fact, co-write this film, along with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, which further explains some of the John Wick nods too.

But to dismiss Normal as purely derivative and overly generic would also be doing it a disservice. It’s actually loads of fun.

The Normal of the film’s title refers to a little town in Minnesota, where Odenkirk’s main character, Ulysses, shows up as the interim sheriff after his predecessor was found dead in the snow in strange circumstances.

Far from being too bothered about investigating these circumstances, Ulysses is determined to leave the town as he found it after a new permanent sheriff is elected. He just wants to bide his time, lying low, while he tries to figure out who he is again (he carries the ghost of a past trauma and clearly likes a drink).

The townsfolk also seem friendly enough, even if they’re quirky. And they include his easy-going deputy Mike (Billy MacLellan), who is proud to have gotten a new jacket (that squeaks); the town mayor (Henry Winkler), who also enjoys maintaining the status quo, and bar owner Moira (Lena Headey), who also seems determined to maintain the town’s natural order.

But when two outsiders attempt to rob the local bank, they unleash a violent chain of events that places Ulysses on the side of the robbers, against the townsfolk, who are keen to protect Normal’s big secret at any cost: that they are, in fact, a hideout for the Yakuza’s money and gold.

The ensuing carnage has a High Noon meets The Last Stand kind of vibe as Ulysses resigns himself to resolving the mess before the real villains arrive from Japan.

And it’s packed with all manner of violent exchanges - some of the brutal hand to hand combat variety; others of the absurdist type (in which characters die horribly and often by freakish accident).

Wheatley mixes up the mayhem well while Odenkirk brings hangdog indignation to his sheriff, dropping some suitably deadpan one-liners while trying to rally whatever troops he can muster.

There’s some nice interplay between the various characters, some of which recalls the quirkiness of classic Coen brothers’ creations, as well as the odd sharp observation on the unfairness of life and the rundown (and letdown) state of small town America.

But nothing is dwelt on for too long, as the emphasis is clearly on the action and kooky comedy. Taken on its own limited terms, therefore, Normal hits just about every one of its targets: even when its characters are regularly and comically shooting wide of the mark!

Certificate: 15

Running time: 1hr 30mins