Normal and What’s Making Us Happy
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
We seek to leave you seeing the world anew. Radiolab adventures right on the edge of what we think we know. Wherever you get podcasts.
You're listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour, the podcast that keeps you up to speed on the latest and greatest in movies, TV, music, and more. If you're a pop culture obsessive who's not yet following us, you can fix that right now by following Pop Culture Happy Hour on your podcast app of choice. Next week, we'll be talking about the new season of the Netflix show Beef, and we'll have a deep dive on all the ways Michael Jackson has been portrayed on screen and how hard he worked to shape his legacy in real time. So make sure to listen. Now, onto the show. So the Liam-nicification of comedy legend Bob Odenkirk. Have you been keeping up on it? Because it is proceeding apace. He's already pivoted from sketch comedy to dramatic acting and most recently to late middle-aged action star in the films Nobody and its sequel.
Now he's starring in Normal, playing a small-town sheriff who finds out his small town isn't so normal after all, which will of course require... Some sexagenarian butt-kicking. I'm Glenn Weldon. Joining me today to talk about Normal on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is Ronald Young Jr. He's the host of the film and television review podcast Leaving the Theater. Hey, Ronald. Hello, Glenn.
Also with us is writer Chris Klimek. Hey, Chris. Hello, Glenn. Hello, Ronald. Briefly, briefly, before we begin, I want to buoy the spirits of anyone who shares my disappointment upon learning that Normal, Minnesota is a fictional town. by telling them that I have, in fact, been to liberal Kansas. And when I was there, I took a photo of a liberal police car. All right. There we go.
In normal The Film, Bob Odenkirk plays—let me check my notes here. Let's see. I've got it right here. Sheriff Ulysses, who's recently accepted a gig as temporary sheriff in a small Minnesota town to get away from a troubled marriage and some mysterious unpleasantness in his past— That doesn't remain mysterious for long because flashbacks. Turns out the town is friendly enough. The mayor is played by Henry Winkler, the local barkeep by a blink and you'll miss her, Lena Headey. But it's hiding a dark secret, a secret that quickly turns super hyper mega violent. Normal was written by Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise, who also wrote Nobody. It was directed by Ben Wheatley, the auteur behind Meg to the Trench, but also some really terrific British horror films like Kill List and A Field in England.
Normal is in theaters now. Chris, our action guy, what'd you make of this little film?
Oh, boy, this is tough because I want to love this movie so deeply. And, you know, it just it just won't let me, Glenn. This is a movie that continually faints towards something less conventional, weirder, more original, and then keeps yanking the wheel back in the direction of the most predictable direction. resolution to any scenario it establishes the big dumb gunfight i was initially kind of hooked because i kind of you know i mean i've written about all the john wick movies and nobody and and colstad seems to do one thing and here it looks like he's actually doing something else this movie looks like it's going to be a little more high noon a little more fargo you know than john wick or the uh the middle-aged guy who has a a violent past and has been pushed too far
And then, you know, again, it just at every turn it keeps on disappointing me. It becomes this sort of one man against the world mismatch that we've seen so many times. I am shocked at how many cliches, how many appendages from other movies you can suture together in the space of 90 minutes.
What is Bob Odenkirk's career evolution from comedy to action?
If this movie were any more derivative, ultimately it would be called The Normal and The Furious. So I am disappointed. Guys, I'm disappointed. Hold me. Hold me. Right, Ronald? Are you going to hold him? Are you disappointed too?
Where did you come down?
Oh, man. Okay, so there's three movies that I thought of while watching this.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:45
2
What is Bob Odenkirk's career evolution from comedy to action?
3:45–4:28
3
What is the premise of the film 'Normal' starring Bob Odenkirk?
4:28–7:18
4
What themes are explored through the character of Sheriff Ulysses?
7:18–8:53
5
How does the film 'Normal' compare to other works by Derek Kolstad?
8:53–10:09
6
What are the main criticisms of the film 'Normal'?
10:09–13:17
7
What are the implications of using clichés in storytelling?
13:17–20:42