Review: The town may be called 'Normal,' but Bob Odenkirk's unlikely action hero isn't

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Is Bob Odenkirk “Nobody” or is he “Normal”? The continual self-effacement of his characters in his recent action-hero era is something he and screenwriter Derek Kolstad will have to take up with a therapist, but the latest installment in their “Surprise! Bob Odenkirk kills people!” micro-genre is “Normal,” a title that indicates nothing normal at all is about to happen on screen.What even is “normal” anyway? In the film directed by Ben Wheatley, it’s the name of a quintessentially American small town in Minnesota, where Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) is serving a temporary shift as interim sheriff after the death of the previous occupant of the office.He’s somewhat delighted by the Norman Rockwell-esque scene he walks into, detailing his surroundings in extensive voicemails to his estranged wife that serve as a narration.But Ulysses’ words don’t match what we see on screen (nor the prologue set at a secret meeting of yakuza gangsters).

He extols how nice and, yes, normal everything seems while simultaneously clocking the details amiss in his office, like the well-stocked, unlocked armory and the death certificate for the deceased Sheriff Gunderson (Pat Harris, seen only in photographs).That’s right, Gunderson, the name made famous by that other Minnesota noir, the Coen brothers’ 1996 hit “Fargo,” for which Frances McDormand won an Oscar playing a very pregnant police chief, Marge Gunderson.But the thing about overtly referencing a film as funny and deft as “Fargo” is that it’s only going to make us think about “Fargo,” so your film better be just as good — or at least come close.

Alas, “Normal” does not.Movies Nearly five years after an almost-fatal heart attack, Odenkirk returns to the action genre with “Normal,” marking the latest twist in an unpredictable career.“Fargo” found its humor in the juxtaposition between �...