<p>In ‘Normal’ (directed by Ben Wheatley), Bob Odenkirk plays Ulysses, a man with a grey past who takes up a temporary Sheriff’s job in the quaint little town of Normal, Minnesota. While riding around town with his overenthusiastic deputy, Ulysses senses something askew with this ‘normal town’ looking like a Truman Show setup of pawns. He speaks to his wife Penny through voice notes, just like special agent Dale Cooper in ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990). The only humane people are a couple with a dog who try to steal a bank and uncover something that’s bigger than they ever imagined. Curious about the previous Sheriff’s death, Ulysses senses a tension brewing with the townspeople, including his fellow officers. Thus unfolds a comedy-action film with the Yakuza showing up to protect their hidden cache of contraband.</p>.<p>The film takes its time to acclimatise us with the town’s eerie aloofness with a well-crafted rhythm. The deputy sheriff’s leather jacket keeps making a sound, a motif for the restlessness of a secret keeper. The silence of the intense winter is felt in the long shots of the car moving through dense snow-laden landscape like a feverish reverie of Fargo (1996).</p>.'They Will Kill You' movie review: This video game-like thriller never levels up.<p>Gathering suspense till the interval, the movie fizzles out predictably. Derek Kolstad’s script plays it too safe with a very lukewarm climax. Some of the dialogue falls flat with cringe humour. What triumphs is the lush sound design, the minimalist background score and a stellar performance by Bob Odenkirk. With Odenkirk’s acting template as the aged, laidback, morally uplifting grey protagonist starting to wear off, a reinvention is necessary. The film tries too hard to defy a mainstream grammar of comedy but loses its effect as the predictable overpowers the experimental.</p>
<p>In ‘Normal’ (directed by Ben Wheatley), Bob Odenkirk plays Ulysses, a man with a grey past who takes up a temporary Sheriff’s job in the quaint little town of Normal, Minnesota. While riding around town with his overenthusiastic deputy, Ulysses senses something askew with this ‘normal town’ looking like a Truman Show setup of pawns. He speaks to his wife Penny through voice notes, just like special agent Dale Cooper in ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990). The only humane people are a couple with a dog who try to steal a bank and uncover something that’s bigger than they ever imagined. Curious about the previous Sheriff’s death, Ulysses senses a tension brewing with the townspeople, including his fellow officers. Thus unfolds a comedy-action film with the Yakuza showing up to protect their hidden cache of contraband.</p>.<p>The film takes its time to acclimatise us with the town’s eerie aloofness with a well-crafted rhythm. The deputy sheriff’s leather jacket keeps making a sound, a motif for the restlessness of a secret keeper. The silence of the intense winter is felt in the long shots of the car moving through dense snow-laden landscape like a feverish reverie of Fargo (1996).</p>.'They Will Kill You' movie review: This video game-like thriller never levels up.<p>Gathering suspense till the interval, the movie fizzles out predictably. Derek Kolstad’s script plays it too safe with a very lukewarm climax. Some of the dialogue falls flat with cringe humour. What triumphs is the lush sound design, the minimalist background score and a stellar performance by Bob Odenkirk. With Odenkirk’s acting template as the aged, laidback, morally uplifting grey protagonist starting to wear off, a reinvention is necessary. The film tries too hard to defy a mainstream grammar of comedy but loses its effect as the predictable overpowers the experimental.</p>