Bob Odenkirk’s reluctant sheriff faces a town with a deadly secret in Ben Wheatley’s brisk, blood-soaked dark comedy
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
“Normal” is “High Noon” directed by Quentin Tarantino. Bob Odenkirk, the standard bearer of wounded male pride, plays the notably named Ulysses Richardson, a “temporary” sheriff working in a small burgh in Minnesota named Normal (it ain’t). The former holder of the title was found frozen to death naked, holding a fishing rod in one hand and an auger in the other. Normal, right?
It does not take Sheriff Ulysses long to figure out that the town holds a dark secret known to all adult inhabitants, and soon those inhabitants team up to kill Ulysses and his few supporters, including a couple of hapless would-be bank robbers, who turn into good Samaritans in the middle of their heist.
Odenkirk, who has starred in two bloody “Nobody” films, now, and, of course, was the title character in the “Better Call Saul” series, is the film’s lead and one of its producers. He also co-wrote the story with Derek Kolstad, the creator of “John Wick.” In the similarly semi-comic “Nobody” films, Odenkirk plays a mild-mannered family man who turns out to be a retired assassin. You’d expect both his “Nobody” persona and Ulysses Richardson to be conservatives. But both characters fight against lawlessness and evil and protect their families, which, at this point, seem like liberal virtues.
The story, which might be described as the Three Stooges meet the Wild West, begins with scenes set in Tokyo involving Yakuza members who must cut off part of a finger to be forgiven by their leader for their “sins” against him, setting the tone for the rest of the film with its outrageous bloodshed and sick humor. Cut to Normal, where Ulysses rides in a car with his new sidekick, Deputy Mike Nelson (Billy MacLellan, “Nobody”), a moron who wears an old leather jacket that is so dried out it creaks. Mike claims to be a biker, but he hasn’t bought the bike yet. A moose makes its first of several appearances. Is it an augur? A messenger? Is that you Bullwinkle?
The police of Normal are armed to the teeth with enough big guns and explosives to wage a war. Ulysses also notices a deputy keeping the dead sheriff’s distressed-looking daughter and soon-to-be avenging gun-packing grrrl Alex (Jess McLeod) away from his memorial service. At the service, Ulysses meets the town’s gelatinous Mayor Kibner (a marvelously creepy turn by Henry Winkler) and later a smart-mouthed, pool-playing barkeeper named Moira (an underused Lena Headey).
During the botched bank robbery, we notice that both bank guards appear to be Japanese. We learn that Ulysses and his wife are separated, but that he calls her regularly and that she never answers. Someone aptly cues up John Lee Hooker’s much-covered, blues standard “Boom Boom.” Boom boom, is right.
Like the almost over-the-hill Gary Cooper in the Fred Zinnemann-directed 1952 classic “High Noon,” Ulysses tries to enlist even the would-be bank robbers and others to help him fight the murderous mob of town folk. Even the old lady who teaches knitting grabs a shotgun and tries to blast Ulysses after the town’s secret is revealed to him. You’d be right to feel like “Normal” cut its cloth out of “Fargo,” too. Most of the ultra-violence in “Normal” is the kind that we find very satisfying and cathartic, especially at a time when real bad guys need to be urgently and righteously removed. Spoiler alert: Winkler makes the most shocking exit of his career. Odenkirk collaborates with the English director Ben Wheatley for this outing. Wheatley is the auteur of the sublimely nutty “A Field in England” (2013) and also “High Rise” (2015) and the Boston-set shoot-’em-up “Free Fire” (2016). At 90 minutes, “Normal” does not pretend to be important. It’s just a banging, funny good time.
‘Normal’
Rating: R for strong bloody violence and language.
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan
Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers: Derek Kolstad and Bob Odenkirk
Running time: 90 minutes
Where to Watch: In theaters
Grade: A-
Boston Movie News 