Normal (II) (2012) User Reviews

Fun mash-up of several common movie tropes.

[chris-625-108195 · 7/10 · 5 March 2013]

Normal starts as a mismatched strangers stuck together on a road trip movie, with elements of young guy on a journey accidentally finds himself movie mixed with dork gets the hot girl movie; yet Normal mashes up those classic Hollywood tropes to end up somewhere completely different.

I thought it was very well done. It was funny, quirky, and outright weird in places. The soundtrack was absolutely perfect. As a limited release indie film I'm not sure where you can find it, but if you get the chance buy or Netflix it or whatever. It's a fun and quite enjoyable trip.

Subtle deep ideas make this a great and fun movie.

[karen24712 · 10/10 · 10 March 2013]

This movie, written with seemingly very normal events contains a lot of symbolism, double meanings, and the very not-normal "other place". What first seems a simple plot of the main character (Phin) needing extra money to get back his car, becomes the question of the existence of a heavenly place, another world, or our world in another time. Phin takes on a job as a gorilla mascot at a used car dealer and then accepts a second job as a messenger, delivering a package to Normal, IL. Unable to get the gorilla costume off, he sets off for Normal with a package and sweating in the costume. His car breaks down and he sets off walking, to be picked up by a couple heading in his direction. A gas stop turns into a theft by the couple driving the car and before getting to Phin's destination, the police find and stop them. When the police handcuff the couple, Phin runs into a cornfield and disappears, not just from the cops but from his 'normal' world. His package delivered to an unknown person in a strange world, he finds himself stumbling into someone's home, back on his familiar earth but unfortunately not in time to save the life of his neighbor.

I highly recommend this movie, watched with simple pleasure and humor or watched several times to pick up on the subtle messages written between the lines!