Bob Odenkirk and Derek Kolstad on ‘Normal’
From small town secrets to big screen violence
Normal — funny, mysterious, and brutal. In this brand-new action-comedy, Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk), the substitute sheriff in town, tries to distance himself from the town’s suspicious occurrences. However, after investigating a botched bank robbery, the town’s secrets and his past threaten to catch up with him.
As the creator of the John Wick and Nobody franchises, writer and producer Derek Kolstad is no stranger to action. In Normal, he explores this genre through a personal lens. The real John Wick — Kolstad’s grandfather — lived in Mazomonia, Wisconsin. Kolstad described the small town as a place “where you go downtown, and it was a bunch of empty storefronts,” like relics just fighting for survival. Kolstad’s inspiration is well-reflected in the unassuming town of Normal, Minnesota: a moody, cool-toned, and gloomy atmosphere that quickly transforms from tranquil to terrifying.
Ulysses joins the likes of John Wick, Saul Goodman, and Hutch Mansell as a character exploring his identity, a topic central to many projects of both Kolstad and Odenkirk. As tensions build and the dark side of Normal surfaces, Ulysses must make a move and reconcile with his own identity.
Throughout the 96-minute runtime, audiences can expect a rollercoaster of emotions that amplify each other, rooted in the blend of comedy and action. Reflecting on a few of their favorite comedic scenes, Odenkirk and Kolstad unanimously championed scenes in which violence is pivotal.
“An action fight is about three to five minutes. It’s about the length of a sketch, and it kind of has a journey like a sketch, and it hopefully has clever moments within it,” Odenkirk said.
To balance farcical humor with shocking violence, Odenkirk explained that he builds tension to make a joke, adding that it must be deliberate and well-placed to connect to the material and further the narrative. Through situational comedy and witty dialogue, Normal whips between humor and havoc, making audiences laugh and gasp in the same breath.
Odenkirk noted that, at times, director Ben Wheatley took Normal to the levels of “a horror film” reminiscent of genre classics like Final Destination, which was also acknowledged by Kolstad. Relying mostly on practical action with stunts performed by Odenkirk himself, the violence is grounded and visceral, eliciting jaw drops and chills among viewers.
Normal explores the nuance of “normalcy,” a concept familiar to all of us. “There is no such thing as normal, you know? And that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Kolstad said.
Ultimately, Normal is a love letter to the film medium — an independent movie imbued with intentionality and artistry, revisiting film’s capacity to induce raw emotions and echo the complexities of the human experience.
Normal is now playing in theaters.