Normal (2026)

 

"Normal” is anything but that, it is in fact an archaic violent comedy that makes us laugh at the stupidity of greedy rural residents and the odd Midwestern weather of Wisconsin. Bob Odenkirk continues to play quirky men of mild demeanor who can demonstrate steely resolve when necessary. While never reaching the heights of “Nobody”, “Normal" does manage to be relatively entertaining and fulfill our desire for violence as entertainment.

Odenkirk stars as a law enforcement official, taking temporary assignments after his marriage seemingly broke up over his longtime law enforcement job. We will of course get slightly more detail toward the end of the film to reveal what went wrong, but just know that Sheriff Ulysses is simply trying to keep things in the style to which they were when he shows up. He is taking a job to be the interim Sheriff of a town in Wisconsin called Normal, and of course the town turns out to be normal... Abby normal , that is.

I was surprised at the start of the movie with a lengthy introduction scene featuring Yakuza. What the heck does this have to do with an American rural community?  Well we will discover that soon enough, let's just say the setup serves just to demonstrate the ruthlessness of the Yakuza, and that will become a subject of interest to everybody in the film later on.

Odenkirk comes across as a peacekeeper with a hands-off approach to law enforcement questions. So when suspicious activity breaks out, he tends to calm the situation long enough to walk away from it. Ultimately however there's going to be a situation that he can't walk away from and that's when the fireworks start. As the old saying goes" trust no one". Eventually the film plays out like a more criminalized version of Hot Fuzz. The goal here is not the greater good but the greater gelt.

The sheriff becomes a one-man Army standing up for Law and Order in the face of insane odds and over the top violence. But there is a lot of humor along the way. Henry Winkler gets a chance to play a character who's a bit of an ass, but still maintains some personal charm. We discover again, that what we find on the surface is not always what is there. Let's just say, when the bullets and RPGs start to interact there will be plenty of mess to clean up and characters that you will be satisfied to see get a little cut down to size.

Maybe it's not a great thing that violence is being used to generate humor and death is manufactured for laugh, but dadgummit that's exactly what happens in a very successful way. 

Nobody

 

Ok, let's see here, nondescript older guy, precious family possession taken away, fearful looks from Russian mob figures when they discover who is after them, a secret horde of gold, flamboyant car stolen, yep, this is indeed from the producers of John Wick. They have taken a number of components from that series, transported them to a different context, rearranged them in the story and produced this film from the mix. You know what, in this case I'm alright with it. A little photo copying works sometimes and if you have the right lead to carry it off, the audience will follow. Done.

Bob Odenkirk has the quiet voice that sounds like a man defeated. Very quickly we learn how he finds himself in a rut. He has lost intimacy with his wife, respect from his son and the daughter who still looks up to him is the apparent real victim of a home robbery that he lets go by without taking a violent action. In addition to his voice, his face is hangdog frustrated and the routine that we see tells us that the domestic tension is mounting. A quick view of the trailer reveals that there is more to him than can be seen on the surface. It takes this random act of violation to tip him back into a life that he has tried to leave. 

Conveniently, he takes his frustrations out on a group of drunken thugs who board a bus that he seems to be trolling for the purpose of releasing his pent up frustrations. Naturally, they turn out to be associated with the Russian mob, and a vendetta ensues. One man against an army of gangsters, hey it was no match for Keanu Reeves and for the most part, Bob Odenkirk, who is not known as an action star, manages to sell us on the concept.

At first, Hutch Mansell, Odenkirk's character, has to work hard at making the combat successful. He is not built like a superman, he is older and a little more weary, and the bad guys rough him up quite a bit in the process. About mid-way though the story however, the director and writers just give in and make him into the implacable foe that the story demands. There are a couple of nice sequences with Hutch and his wife , played by Connie Nielson, which suggests that there is some personal drama to what is taking place, but for the most part the adrenaline mainlining starts and it is the focus of the rest of the film. 

Maybe Hutch doesn't kill quite as many mobsters as Keanu in John Wick 3, but it is still an impressive number and for the most part, Odenkirk is up to it. The Dolph Lungren doppelganger who leads the Russian mob in this vicinity, is an extroverted narcissist who really does not care about his partners but knows that they will not tolerate his failure to extract revenge for the insult that has been tossed in his lap. This is basic macho posturing done with the stylized balletic movements that the action films of the last two decades have been mining repeatedly, and it looks great. 

So there is nothing very original here, but what is presented is very satisfying. Both Michael Ironside and Christopher Lloyd show up in the movie, and someone cleverly thought to switch their obvious roles for one another. RZA, a guy who can't really act but has managed to turn some hip hop cred into a film career, shows up near the end, with just about as much screen time as he can carry. The next day I suffered a little from Popcorn belly because I finished the whole tub, and that was completely worth it. I will be looking forward to watching large chunks of this movie at random in the future. I think anyone intrigued by the trailer will feel satiated.