Normal – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Normal – Blood & Money: It’s a Temporary Gig

The world of film is a place where intrigue and circumstances cross paths.  It is a sensational grip that comes from the mundane, where you witness characters and situations becoming something more.  The grounded appeal may be the starting point, but the rest of the journey is something to behold.  In this review, I look at the latest action/drama film to hit the big screen.  From a simple premise, we head off into a twisting tale of gangsters and hometown foolery.  For all the convenience at hand, Normal shows that there will always be more to solve for a part time sheriff.

When a temporary job turns out to be more than its worth, a law-abiding sheriff will have to rely on drastic means to survive a small town.  For film, a burning thought always comes to mind, is the journey worth the squeeze.  With this film, it is one where a simple idea becomes a place where action and drama strike its own accord in its sandbox journey.  After a quick but visceral prologue, we jump into the present where we meet Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk).  He is a former sheriff that has left his previous job to take up a temporary sheriff’s gig in Normal, MN.  His arrival sparks scenes of dry humor mixed in with the ‘fish out of water’ scenario, building up the ‘sandbox’ motif within a small-town setting.  Each interaction adds a characterized dynamic that builds up a factor of ‘dark activities’ at play.  This all comes to head when a bank robbery happens, bringing the hidden truths of the town to light.  This moment provides a pivot from the generalized world-building to a frenetic sense of action, leading to a series of over-the-top scenes of explosions, gunplay and dry humor.  This switch also plays in the favor of the simple premise, where the level of detail is driven by the irony of the mundane: how the ‘everyday’ man will do anything to protect their home.  With Ulysses on one side and the town on the other, this layering of morality becomes a driving factor that creates gravitas to the unpredictable chaos … where one-dimensional aspects are leveled through an unorthodox approach to relative themes.  The filmmakers are able to pull you into a world where clichés abound, but it is the colorful satire that drives home a believability in this particular action sandbox. 

As things escalate, Ulysses slowly discovers what is really behind the criminal element in town.  From the action to the slow down conversations, the balancing act drives that satirical motif, allowing characters to feel more genuine through a cartoonish like appeal.  As the truth threatens everyone in town, we head into a third act of tense confrontation and unpredictability, building up to a standoff like climax and full circle epilogue.  Normal is a film that twists ideas into something different but familiar.  If you are a fan of action, drama or satirical concepts, this is one for you.  In the end, I think it is worth seeing on the big screen.

Full Score – 4 out of 5 (Full Price)