Normal: one-paragraph review

Bob Odenkirk as Sheriff Ulysses

Normal, directed by Ben Wheatley, released early in 2025, then generally in 2026, stars Bob Odenkirk in another unlikely-action-hero role (the movie has some of the same writing and producing DNA as Nobody), this time as a disaffected sheriff doing interim work in the snowy town of Normal, Minnesota—a town that had recently lost its sheriff. The citizens of Normal strike Sheriff Ulysses (Odenkirk) as bland but a mite strange. Ulysses himself is a bit detached and uncaring after having separated from his wife, but he becomes increasingly suspicious that something is not normal in Normal after several encounters with shifty townsfolk, the dodgy mayor (Henry Winkler), and strange details about the previous sheriff's death that don't add up. The town turns out to have made a deal with the devil: A branch of the Yakuza is storing a huge amount of gold and munitions there; in return, the Yakuza has rewarded the town handsomely for keeping silent. The previous sheriff had gotten too close to the truth, though, leaving behind an emotionally devastated daughter named Alex (Jess McLeod). A desperate couple of drifters (Reena Jolly, Brendan Fletcher) try robbing the town's bank, and all hell breaks loose as Sheriff Ulysses has to decide whom to side with and how to get out alive when almost everyone wants to kill him. A Yakuza member in town calls for reinforcements, and things get a lot worse before they get better. All in all, the film struck me as a poorly put-together turd (if such turds exist), but it's hard to fault the actors, who all did good work in their roles. Odenkirk's Sheriff Ulysses rediscovers his ability to care when he starts to pay fatherly attention to Alex and one of the robbers; Ulysses proves to be both affable and competent when faced with multiple chaotic threats, but I would've liked to see his relationship with the two young women, both in desperate need of guidance, explored in greater depth. Instead, the movie went for the easy gags and broad comedy when it could have gone for depth. In all, I wasn't even sure that this movie was worth writing about: It's lighter-than-light entertainment at best, but here you go—I managed a paragraph for you.