If Bob Odenkirk already proved he was no Nobody in the action genre, now he proves he is more than Normal. (Apologies, but I could not resist.) This time, Normal does not refer to his character but to a Midwestern town where Odenkirk’s Sheriff Ulysses is temporarily assigned. The city may look ordinary, with its yarn shop, bar, and hardware store, but beneath the small-town charm, everyone is armed, and once Ulysses stumbles onto a secret he should not see, the entire community turns against him.
Ben Wheatley’s film feels like a mix of his own Free Fire, with Derek Kolstad and Odenkirk’s earlier collaboration Nobody, Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, and a touch of Fargo (the series more than the film). It never reaches the high points of those titles, whether the intensity of Free Fire, the cleverness of Hot Fuzz or Fargo, or the freshness of watching Odenkirk transform into an action star in Nobody. Yet by combining and blending these influences, it still delivers a solid and entertaining whole.
The film takes its time building the town and its atmosphere before the chaos erupts, moving us through each location that later becomes an arena for blood-soaked brawls. Those early stretches can feel slow, almost like a pilot episode laying groundwork for a series, especially when the story leans on flashbacks to fill in character backstories. Once the façade falls away and the action begins, the movie finds its rhythm, jumping from one sequence to another with clarity and briskness. None of the set pieces overstay their welcome, and unlike Nobody or Free Fire, the film never feels repetitive or exhausting. Still, no single scene is unforgettable. There are teases of a glorious payoff, even involving the moose, that never arrive. The result is safe but consistently fun right up to the very end.
What makes it rise above mediocrity is Odenkirk himself. Few actors capture the everyman quality of a neighbor, coworker, or in this case a small-town sheriff as naturally as he does. His comic timing remains sharp, and while this sheriff has much in common with the character he played in Nobody, Odenkirk finds ways to separate them, adding a deeper note of sadness that connects nicely with Jess McLeod’s character and gives the story an emotional core. His physicality also shows great commitment. Given the choice, I would take him as the center of an action film over Liam Neeson’s ultra seriousness or Keanu Reeves’ mythic stoicism and stiff line delivery. During the post screening Q and A, Odenkirk mentioned how much he has been enjoying the workout routine demanded by roles like this, which makes the thought of him fighting more villains very welcome, even if some turn out to be misguided old ladies. I am ready for Ordinary, or Regular, or Simple, or Standard.
This is part of Reviews On Reels TIFF 2025 Coverage. Due to the hectic rhythm of a film festival, it may be tweaked in the future.
Still courtesy of TIFF.