Known for his darkly comic thrillers such as Kill List, Down Terrace, and Sightseers, acclaimed filmmaker Ben Wheatley, alongside his wife-cum-co-writer Amy Jump, has achieved cult-like fandom within the British indie scene. In recent years, his attention has shifted to what might be described as director-for-hire work with the likes of his Netflix adaptation of classic novel Rebecca and a bizarre foray into shark action with Meg 2: The Trench. His latest feature is neo-Western drama Normal penned by John Wick franchise creator, Derek Kolstad. The plot follows unassuming sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) who is assigned an interim position in the fictional small town of Normal, Minnesota. When a local bank heist goes awry, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving the deadly Yakuza crime syndicate.
Set within a snowcoated Midwestern landscape with a law-enforcing lead, the narrative’s premise is uncannily Fargo-esque – our protagonist even takes over from a Chief ‘Gunderson’ in a blatant nod to the Coen’s iconic picture. This playful imitation runs the risk of becoming too derivative as a duo of idiot criminals are introduced to fumble their way through a badly planned heist. This genre stereotype has already been done to death but its one of many that arise within this particular plot. This being said, when a slow start does crank up into full-throttle action mode, Wheatley expresses his flair for intense fight choreography and cartoonishly violent set-pieces – some kills tread into Final Destination levels of ridiculousness but Kolstad’s script remains self-aware, never asking to be taken seriously.
Having appeared in one of the most popular TV shows of the 21st century and starred in its superior spin-off, comedy actor Bob Odenkirk has since reinvented himself as an unlikely action hero. He’s already fronted both of Kolstad’s Nobody films and sharing a ‘story by’ credit with the screenwriter for this outing, he’s very comfortable in the skin of Ulysses. Lena Headey and Henry Winkler are amongst the supporting cast, but with turns that are little more than cameos to supplement the loose redemption arc of our main man.
Describing one film as a combination of two others is often a clunky comparison conceived to be emblazoned on a poster, but there’s simply no escaping that Ben Wheatley’s Normal is ‘John Wick meets Fargo’. Its copycat nature means that it lacks the originality, edge, and personality of the director’s earlier oeuvre but it lets its entertaining action do the heavy lifting and with the casually charismatic presence of Odenkirk at its heart, it’s a perfectly serviceable shoot-em-up.
Cinema Perspective 