After seeing the trailer I didn’t expect much beyond a retread of the pretty excellent Nobody (2021) and hopefully an improvement on its disappointing 2025 sequel. Though we’re fans of Wheatley here at The Film List, his more commercial efforts have proved less enticing than his more outré films like the truly brilliant A Field In England (2013) and the deeply unsettling The Kill List (2011). So, anticipating a fairly rote action thriller I was honestly shocked to discover a gleeful, frenetic and endlessly surprising action comedy that feels like Hard Boiled (1992)  Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and Hot Fuzz (2013) fed through Fargo’s (1996) wood chipper. It’s a film of constant reinvention, that subverts expectations with some truly unpredictable narrative leaps. Normal moves through these sometimes abrupt shifts in genre with confidence, operating within its own (Looney Tunes-esque) logic.

What grounds it is the film’s performances, particularly Odenkirk who has become an unlikely action star. He reacts to events with a wry resignation and he’s far more empathetic and less jaded than some hyper masculine action heroes. Ulysses is closer to John McClane’s (Bruce Willis) sardonic, improvised heroics in Die Hard (1988) than the professional but monosyllabic John Wick (Keanu Reeves). His willingness to see the nuance in situations leads to an alliance with Alex (Jess Mcleod) a depressed ex soldier who is still reeling from the death of their father, the previous Sheriff and teaming up with the two bank robbers (Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher) who set events into motion. The aforementioned Winker and Lena Headey (who appears as Normal’s jaded bartender) aren’t given much screen-time, their roles limited to a few brief scenes but both do great with what little they have. Ryan Allen who plays the deputy gunning for the permanent Sheriff position is notable in how he plays the characters shifting allegiances and Billy MacLellan adds a goofy charm to the deputy shadowing Ulysses.