In wide release, "Normal" has loudly launched, a new film by British director Ben Wheatley ("Free Fire"). Starring Bob Odenkirk, who may soon replace Liam Neeson. We tell you how both love their craft in our review.

Temporary sheriff Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk) arrives in the quiet, snow-covered town of Normal. The previous sheriff died under mysterious circumstances, and Richardson, not out of professional zeal but rather simple curiosity, tries to find out what happened to him. And indeed, much in Normal seems suspicious, but Ulysses chalks it up to his own fatigue. At one point, a pair of robbers come to Normal to clean out the local bank. And then it turns out that Richardson's suspicions have solid ground, and the population of Normal is ready to kill the sheriff who is uninitiated in the town's strange affairs.

Before admiring the new film by Ben Wheatley, it's worth looking back at his past works. The brightest, of course, is “Free Fire”: there, the basement of an abandoned building temporarily turned into a real frontier, and accurate hits to various parts of the body (even the head) do not necessarily mean imminent death. If you dig deeper, you'll find that Wheatley hasn't always staged shootouts so successfully. His career has included horrors, and even quite good ones.

Take, for example, 2011. The film boldly collides a grounded crime plot about a hitman with occult folk horror: there are secret societies, and mysterious signs appear on the doors of houses, as in "The Blair Witch Project." However, in subsequent works, Wheatley gradually tones down the horror, focusing on black humor, juicy action, and filigree shootouts.

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In the latter craft, by the way, he can easily give a hundred points ahead to the holder of a black belt in screen machismo, Chad Stahelski. From "John Wick" once branched off screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who came up with the snowy, cozy, and at the same time dangerous little town of Normal for Wheatley's new film. And Bob Odenkirk fits in very aptly there — a figure deserving special mention.

Odenkirk, apparently, enjoyed playing scruffy guys with an impassive face and iron fists so much that in the foreseeable future this promises us the birth of a new Liam Neeson. In addition to a scattering of young actors, the film also features Odenkirk's near-contemporaries: Lena Headey (for exactly two scenes) and Henry Winkler as the odious mayor.

Such a powerful team of filmmakers and actors a priori could not make something mediocre — even considering the obvious "b-movie" segment. The main center of gravity of the film is still Bob Odenkirk: a man with a simple appearance but with oppressive grief in his heart. Apparently, that's why he is in no hurry to become the permanent sheriff, doubting both himself and his work. And what he has been through has opened in him the ability for empathy and love for his neighbor. He even puts an obvious offender behind bars not for punishment, but so that she can simply get some sleep.

The actor's texture, his impassive face and paternal care — all this is perfectly woven into the fabric of the film. If you were to imagine an ideal precinct officer (i.e., sheriff), it should be Odenkirk. He exudes strength and at the same time a weariness of living by the letter of the law. It's better to act humanely: more benefit, less paperwork.

Wheatley's main mistake could have been that Odenkirk's character would transform significantly in the second part of the film, when the grim night melee begins according to the "all against one" formula. The sheriff could have gone berserk, swinging his fists left and right, with a sadistic smile on his face. But fortunately, Wheatley did not make this mistake. The hero remained the same phlegmatic sheriff, capable, after a couple of rather lazy killings, of negotiating with the yakuza so that everyone would be fine. This, of course, does not promise a peaceful ending, but nothing depends on the sheriff anymore: he did everything he could.

But at the same time, Wheatley himself does not deny himself the pleasure of once again wiping the nose of the creators of "John Wick," plunging Normal into either a nightmare or a theater of the absurd, where each murder raises the level not of horror, but rather of laughter. For this, the director stops at nothing, and everything that comes to hand is used: from a knitting needle to a hefty stick of dynamite. Wheatley's imagination knows no bounds, so the shots sound not just loud, but even with some elegance. This whole colorful medley is crowned by a well-chosen texture: a snowy sleepy town, as if ideally created for such misadventures.

Overall, "Normal" is an elegant mix of "Hot Fuzz" and the series "The Precinct." Here we have the restless Odenkirk in his element; a punchy action with shootouts; the blackest humor skillfully inserted at the right moments; and Chekhov's guns literally hanging in the frame, firing one after another. And all this in a stunning hour and a half of screen time. One of the best action films in recent times. Without a serious face, but made with the diligence of a shock worker who has thoroughly studied his own craft.