Normal
Normal is playing in theaters at the time of review. Rated R. Common Sense says 16+
A temporary small-town sheriff (Bob Odenkirk) uncovers dark mysteries after a local bank robbery.
STORY: D
Where are the “Oh wow!” moments?
The film seems to think it’s smart, edgy, and provocative. It’s none of these things. The movie offers little to latch on to.
Worst of all, instead of trying to be one thing but turning out to be something else, the film’s nothing more than a collection of incoherent, shapeless moments. It’s a disappointing case of missed potential.
PEOPLE: C-
Odenkirk is a race car forced to stay in the garage.
Odenkirk’s greatest asset as an actor isn’t the outward bravado and charm. It’s the wounded child hiding behind it. We get neither in Normal.
Odenkirk stays in the same “Aw, shucks!” register for the entire movie. In a better-structured film, that steadiness could have served as an axis for everything else to spin around. Here, it feels like a missed opportunity for a film that desperately needs his performance to be its engine.
FILM NERD STUFF: F
These tropes have no pulse.
Movie tropes — the filmmaking moves and story beats we’ve seen countless times before — are like grass seed. You need to plant them in a rich story for them to transform the lawn into something beautiful.
ONE BIG LESSON: F
We never get an answer to what pays, but we know crime ain’t it.
This grade is low because the film believes it’s saying something interesting and important. It’s not.
The movie tries to comment on the outsized damage small towns across America take during times of economic distress. What happens more resembles a kid who raises their hand in class and then says, “Never mind.”
The film doesn’t explore or reveal anything interesting on the topic, only a trite notion we’ve heard countless times.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Watching this film feels like dating someone you’re not completely into, but you stick around because they’ve got all sorts of potential. At least until the moment they prove there’s not much under the hood.
That moment comes about halfway through Normal when the “reveal” (already heavily telegraphed in the trailer) occurs. This movie could have chosen to press the pedal to the floor. Instead, it sits waiting at the light.
I didn’t like Wheatley’s Free Fire, and I don’t like this one. They’re similar stories, filled with wild combat in clearly defined, limited spaces. If you’re a fan of Free Fire, this will be right in your wheelhouse. Everyone else can skip it.