Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) arrives in Normal, Minnesota, to serve as interim sheriff after the sudden death of the previous sheriff. At first glance, Normal has all the trappings of a wholesome, small American town with a close-knit community that is thriving while its neighbours have faded away. It`s a welcome assignment for Ulysses, who is happy to spend eight weeks stamping paperwork until he, staying true to his name, moves on to the next place. He`s in desperate need of peace because he carries baggage – an ongoing divorce compounded by the guilt of once disbelieving and dismissing a woman`s complaint of sexual assault.

Though the mayor (Henry Winkler), the two deputy officers (Ryan Allen and Bill MacLellan) and a bartender (Lena Headey) warmly embrace him, Ulysses senses that things are not so normal in the town. A haberdashery shop has a police scanner, a diner has several loaded guns hung on the walls for decoration, and a humble hardware store has a closet secured with several locks.

A blizzard comes to town, and so do two down-on-their-luck outsiders (Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher) who devise a plan to rob the bank. And so, Ulysses is called for his first real case. The robbery has quickly gone awry, and the thieves have already opened fire on security guards and are attempting to break into the vault. As Ulysses forces his way into the building to negotiate with them, the situation spirals. Suddenly, he finds himself protecting the robbers as his own deputies open fire at him. All of a sudden, the townspeople have transformed into assassins and are baying for his blood. From then on, it`s nonstop violence as they face the entire town.

The film is quite gory and graphic, and the action sequences are gripping and well-staged, with the background score effectively elevating the tension. However, Wheatley`s take on the action genre isn`t novel or unusual. Someone`s head is crushed with a mallet. Someone`s ear gets blown off. Someone trips and shoots himself in the face. Though engaging, the majority of these kills aren`t new.

The occasional jokes scattered do elicit laughs, and Odenkirk has the ability to be darkly comic. The wintry atmosphere adds to the bleakness, as the carnage streaks the blinding white snow with red and engulfs the town. Normal has a couple of twists that will surprise you, but it doesn`t quite manage to subvert expectations.

Normal didn`t bore me, but neither did it excite me. Normal, as a thriller is fairly normal.