In the modern world of film noir, there is a nightmarishly recurring scene. It has to do with Japanese mobsters known as The Yakuza, and their strict, brutal code of conduct. The violation of that code requires the culprit to cut off one of his fingers in a barbaric, ritualistic ceremony. Though it’s been done in a number of movies, including the John Wick films, it is always ugly, unnerving and disturbingly unforgettable.
“Normal” opens with such a scene. Several disgraced men painfully, obediently chop off fingers. When one tries to fake the act, well, he wishes he didn’t. The tense, bloody scene sets the stage for “Normal,” the name of a little town in Minnesota, USA, where the shamed, nine-fingered, Japanese men are to be exiled.
“Normal,” it turns out, is anything but normal. The story picks up with the arrival of a new, temporary sheriff named Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk). He’s a decent, likeable guy, haunted by an ugly memory, looking for some small-town, stress-free employment.
He arrives in bitter cold winter weather, right out of the movie “Fargo” (1996). Initially, his fellow law enforcement staff seem friendly, and the locals appear to be law-abiding citizens whose worst crimes only amount to some petty squabbling.
But then the sheriff soon discovers the town seems to harbor enough guns, ammunition and explosives to start a small war. The local restaurant resembles a gun store with an assortment of firearms hanging on the walls. When jokingly asked if they are loaded, the proprietor responds that it wouldn’t be much fun if they weren’t.
One day the local bank alarm goes off when a pair of robbers attempts to make off with some cash, only to find that in a world of electronic transactions, there isn’t much on hand. The robbery reveals that the two shamed, exiled Japanese mobsters are now working as armed bank security guards.
When the police arrive, everything takes a strange turn. For starters, the backup officers intentionally shoot the sheriff as he’s entering the building. His body armor saves his life, and in the confusion that follows, he finds himself joining forces with the likeable bank robber couple (who didn’t try to shoot him) in order to fend off the cops who seem intent on killing them all.
In the mayhem, the sheriff and robbers discover the bank vault looks like a scaled down version of Fort Knox with stacks of gold bars and cash. It becomes abundantly clear that something strange is going on.
As it turns out, there is a dark secret underlying the town’s secret stash. It’s a secret shared by everyone in the town who have collectively sold their souls to a foreign crime syndicate and gone over to the dark side.
Watch: Normal - Official Trailer
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a story as deliciously evil as this — stories that used to be the stock in trade of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino or The Coen Brothers. “Normal” is a modern-day example of film noir with an extra helping of bloody, graphic violence, so over the top that it plays as grotesque comedy.
People get stabbed, shot, crushed and blown up in spectacular fashion. As the story unfolds, the mild-mannered sheriff morphs into a Rambo-style killing machine armed with the town’s formidable stockpile of military artillery. He is joined by Alex, the feisty young daughter of the town’s previous sheriff who met a mysterious death.
In addition to Odenkirk (of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” fame) the cast includes Henry Winkler and Lena Headley. It’s a great lineup.
“Normal” doesn’t appear to be a big-budget picture, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not an enjoyable, thoroughly entertaining flick for film noir fans. It is a delightfully cold, noirish, crime world full of twists, turns and surprises. And a sizeable body count that goes beyond what might be considered normal, even for a movie like this.
“Normal” is rated R for strong bloody violence and language.
Drew’s Take:
Nothing is normal in the movie “Normal.” It is a bloody-fun, action flick – a deep, dark dive into a small Minnesota town harboring a well-guarded secret.
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