Movie: Normal (2025) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

Normal

Came out; 2025

Time; 1 hour 31 Minutes

Watched: Amazon

Rated: R for strong bloody violence and language

IMDB Rating; 6.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 77%

Popcorn Meter 75%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Bob Odenkirk as Ulysses Richardson

Ryan Allen as Deputy Blaine Anderson

Billy MacLellan as Deputy Mike Nelson

Lena Headey as Moira

Henry Winkler as Mayor Kibner

Reena Jolly as Lori

Story Line;

Normal is a neo-Western thriller that stars Bob Odenkirk as Ulysses, an unassuming substitute sheriff assigned to the quiet Midwestern town of Normal. Seeking a temporary escape from personal and professional turmoil, Ulysses instead finds himself drawn into a crisis when a botched bank robbery exposes a dangerous secret beneath the town's calm exterior. As tensions escalate (and boy, do they escalate), he is forced to confront his troubled past and the true nature of the community he has been tasked with protecting

Thoughts:

This was very much like Nobody but I'm not complaining. This was such a good movie

It starts off innocent enough and quickly turns

This was such a fun movie to watch

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

Ulysses begins serving as interim sheriff of Normal, Minnesota, where he is chiefly occupied with nuisance reports from the residents of the prosperous small town. He has nagging suspicions about the hypothermia death of the previous sheriff and is mindful of the sheriff's distraught adult child, Alex.

A couple passing through town ineptly attempt to rob the bank. Ulysses had briefly met one of them at his motel and, sensing the nervousness of his deputies, enters the bank to calm the situation. However, his deputies shoot him in the back and, seeing that they hit his bulletproof vest, indiscriminately shoot into the bank. Several people are killed, and others flee. Ulysses discovers that the bank vault is full of cash, gold bars, and military weapons.

The mayor explains that they are safeguarding the property of a yakuza crime syndicate, which has enriched the town. He offers Ulysses the opportunity to join them as permanent sheriff if he will kill the robbers to demonstrate his loyalty. Ulysses instead allies with the robbers, Lori and Keith. They fight their way out of the bank and through the town in the midst of a blizzard that disrupts power and communications, experiencing numerous violent encounters with deputies and armed townsfolk.

A coded message sent during the robbery alerts the yakuza leaders. Unable to contact the town, they dispatch a team from Japan on a private plane to resolve the threat to their operation.

Ulysses escorts Lori and Keith to a snowplow, which the couple use to leave town through the storm. Ulysses then returns to the police station, where he is ambushed by Moira, the local barkeeper whom he had befriended the previous evening. Moira confesses to killing the sheriff and prepares to kill Ulysses. However, Alex intervenes and kills Moira, avenging the sheriff's death. Ulysses sends Alex to place explosives from the police station in the bank vault and uses this as leverage to force a deal with the remaining townspeople: make it look like storm damage to the town with a car crashed into the bank in order to convince the yakuza that everything is okay and avoid their retribution.

When the yakuza arrive, they accept the staged accident and are satisfied that their property remains secure. The townsfolk and yakuza then have a celebratory dinner. During the gathering, a loaded shotgun mounted on the wall of the restaurant accidentally discharges, killing the yakuza leader. The incident triggers a violent melee from which only Ulysses, Alex, and one deputy survive.

The film ends with Ulysses and Alex in rural Texas, where they are working together in another substitute sheriff assignment, with the surviving deputy serving as the new sheriff of Normal.

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia