Courtney Howard // Film Critic
Rated R, 1 hour and 30 minutes
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, Lena Headey, Henry Winkler, Reena Jolly, Brendan Fletcher, Jess McLeod, Peter Shinkoda, Megan MacArton, Carson Nattrass
There’s a chance NORMAL’s elevator pitch might have sounded better than the film’s actual execution. Director Ben Wheatley’s neo-western (written by Derek Kolstad from a story by Kolstad and Bob Odenkirk) about an interim sheriff uncovering one small town’s huge secret plays a little like SHANE if the townsfolk were actually self-sabotaging, well-armed assassins and didn’t really want a hero protector. After the first act, it surprisingly feels like a chore to watch, despite clocking in at a brisk 90 minutes, suffering from incomprehensible tonal fluctuations, illogical character construction and incoherent thematic designs. It’s unclear what we should be rooting for besides the film’s end credits roll.
Lawman Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk) is running from his past, now separated from his wife Penny after a traumatic event scarred him on the job. He still cares enough to leave her voice messages updating her on his life. He’s taken an 8 week gig as sheriff of a tiny, half abandoned town in Minnesota called Normal, stationed there until they elect a new one after their last one died. Yet when he begins his first day in the temporary position, he learns the citizens are anything but regular folks. They’re a bunch of cartoonish depictions of Midwestern simpletons who all have petty beefs with each other and act suspicious of this new guy’s leadership. While Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler) tries to assuage the new hire’s feelings that something seems off-kilter, Ulysses still can’t help but think something’s brewing.
It’s not until unwitting thieves Lori (Reena Jolly) and Keith (Brendan Fletcher) breeze into town to rob the bank that Ulysses finally gets a peek at what Normal’s natives have been doing to survive a financial recession: storing the Yakuza’s ill-gotten gains in their vault for a holding percentage. Immediately upon this discovery, Ulysses’ alleged new pals – dimwitted Deputy Mike (Billy MacLellan), arrogant sheriff candidate Deputy Blaine (Ryan Allen), edgy elderly yarn store owner Mary Beth (Megan MacArton) and rude hardware shop owner Maynard (Carson Nattrass) – collaborate to kill him and the burglars. As a ruthless battle erupts, an alarm is triggered by the stockpile’s babysitter, Joe (Peter Shinkoda), summoning bigger baddies for an unannounced visit.
The quote from PULP FICTION, “Just because you are a character, doesn’t mean you have character,” came to mind on more than a few occasions during NORMAL. Kolstad and Odenkirk expand upon their sliver of a good story idea in all the wrong ways. Sure, the filmmakers pull inspiration from FARGO’s folksy humility in their creations’ humorous eccentricities, from Deputy Mike’s squeaky leather jacket to the loaded-gun-covered walls of the Main Street Diner. However, we’re not given any reasons to really care about any of these one-dimensional people and their plights. So during the shootout between the rubes and robbers, who are trapped in the bank with Ulysses, it’s confusing where audience allegiance is supposed to lie. It’s a reach to root against Normal’s residents after they’ve been established as adorably quaint.
The thieves are a plot device meant to shuttle us from Point B to Point C, or in this case Act 2 to Act 3, as they disappear after the standoff ends, escaping into the blizzard with their dog – who is absolutely superfluous, and is only included to remind us that this was written by the guy who wrote JOHN WICK. At least they don’t put the dog in peril, and they make sure to emphasize (stopping the movie to explain three times) that the pooch is doing better than the human characters are.
It also proves worthless that there was even a shoot-out (one that’s reductive of Wheatley’s FREE FIRE) in the first place given the turn of events in the final act when the Yakuza inevitably descends upon Normal to check on their illegal stash, and the community is forced to play nice together to fool them. The physical damage the in-fighting caused was far greater than if a town rep had a sit-down conversation with Ulysses. There’s also a B-storyline about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the former sheriff’s death which involves his military vet daughter Alex (Jess McLeod) and townsperson Moira (Lena Headey). And if that’s not enough, Ulysses is working through his own sadsack journey – one that’s touched upon too sparingly to properly land. It’s all so ridiculously contrived, and not in a fun enough way to excuse the maddening aspects.
With little to root for, a rote narrative and a leading man’s performance that fails to further boost his action hero status, NORMAL feels like an abnormal for Wheatley, Kolstad and Odenkirk – all of whom have previously turned in far better work.
Grade: 2 out of 5
NORMAL will be in theaters on April 17.
